We’re six months and counting past the officer-involved shooting in Augusta County that killed Dustin Griffin, 42, as sheriff’s deputies were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on drug charges, and, breaking news, the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing.
If that sounds out of place to you, because you remember that Augusta County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tim Martin declared, three weeks after the shooting, that “none of the deputies” involved in the incident would face charges, issuing a statement asserting that “(t)heir actions were not only justified, but entirely necessary.”
“The Commonwealth said there was no merit to prosecute any of the officers. How did they make that determination when the State Police still has an active investigation? How is that possible?” said Nikki Griffin, Dustin’s sister, in an interview on Wednesday, the six-month anniversary of her brother’s shooting death.
ICYMI
- Augusta County: Man killed in officer-involved shooting; one deputy airlifted
- Augusta County: Medical examiner confirms ID of man shot, killed by deputy
- The story of the man killed in Augusta County officer-involved shooting
- What’s the status of the investigation into the Dustin Griffin shooting death?
- Local media hypes jewelry store heist, ignores officer-involved shooting
- Augusta County: Prosecutor exonerates deputies in Dec. 17 shooting; still waiting for details
- Augusta County: What happened on Dec. 17 on Parkersburg Turnpike?
- Family of Dustin Griffin: ‘We want answers,’ not ‘premature conclusions’
- Augusta County sheriff releases bodycam video in Dec. 17 shooting: Case closed?
- Dustin Griffin case: Video evidence lacking on the shot to the back of the head
- Virginia State Police not done investigating Dustin Griffin shooting
Setting the scene: on the night of Dec. 17, deputies arrived at an address on Parkersburg Turnpike about two miles west of the Staunton city limits to arrest Dustin Griffin on outstanding warrants, and after Griffin attempted to flee, he was tackled to the ground by one of the deputies.
From edited videos released by Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith on Jan. 16, we can see that, during the ensuing struggle between Griffin and two of the deputies, Griffin produced a gun and shot one in the shoulder.
A third deputy approaching the scene who had not been involved in the struggle fired five shots that hit Griffin in the torso.
The second deputy that had been involved in the struggle with Griffin fired a final shot, approximately four seconds after the final of the flurry of five shots fired by the second deputy.
Smith acknowledged in a press release accompanying the release of the videos that the “final shot struck Griffin in the back of the head.”
What happened in those four seconds between the volley of four shots and the final shot, the one to the back of the head – the kill shot – would seem to be what’s at question here.
Was Griffin still a threat after taking the five shots to the torso, the force of which turned him from his back to his stomach, facing away from the deputies?
And while four seconds might not sound like much time, if you watch the video, it seems like an eternity – the gap between the volley of shots, and then the final one.
Video: Three angles of the Dec. 17 shooting
“We just want answers, we just want justice,” Nikki Griffin said. “If they would just show us what happened, and it was clearcut that it was what they said it was, we would be satisfied with that, you know. I’m not saying that maybe Dustin wasn’t in the wrong, but I can’t see that for myself with what they’ve shown us.”
What she’s getting at there: all we’ve seen to this point is edited video.
The family has made several requests under Virginia FOIA law to get the unedited video, but all have been rebuffed, because the investigation is ongoing.
There’s also the matter of the public claim from the sheriff’s office that the officer who fired the final – and fatal – shot didn’t have his bodycam engaged.
Nikki Griffin tells me the family is understandably skeptical that this is true, and I have to say, I can’t blame the family here.
The family had an independent autopsy done, and has hired a former state medical examiner to review both that independent autopsy report and the official autopsy report, and the indication is that there is “some conflicting information” between the two.
“It’s frustrating, because we still have no answers,” Griffin said, adding, it doesn’t help the situation that the Commonwealth’s attorney issued a statement declaring that he considered the case closed, without a final report from State Police.
“I thought the Commonwealth’s attorney was supposed to represent the people, not the sheriff’s office,” Griffin said.
Because Tim Martin is not actively, and independently, investigating the case, it’s going to be tough for the Griffin family to get the answers it would seem to deserve.
“We just keep hitting roadblocks,” Nikki Griffin said.
“But we’re not giving up. We’re still pushing.”
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Chris Graham
