Local prosecutors conclude two recent officer-involved shootings were justified

Local prosecutors have concluded their reviews of two recent officer-involved shootings in Albemarle County and Charlottesville, both concluding with the finding that the shootings were justified.

The first case involved Andrew Todd Ainsworth, who was shot and killed by a fugitive task force on Aug. 29, 2022, as task force members were working to apprehend Ainsworth on a federal probation warrant.

According to the report from Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingeley, Ainsworth was located in Albemarle County, and police followed him to the Route 29/bypass on-ramp at Fontaine Avenue.

He was shot after ignoring commands to show his hands and exit his vehicle, and pulled a gun out of a book bag and pointed it at officers.

Ainsworth fired one shot at officers.

He died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds.

The gun retrieved from Ainsworth, a Ruger .357 Magnum revolver, “had one spent cartridge in the chamber under the hammer,” according to Hingeley’s report, and “the remaining five cartridges were loaded with unfired cartridges.”

Hingeley determined that the officers’ actions were “justified to defend themselves and others from Ainsworth’s own threat of deadly force.”

Billy Sites case

The second case involved the Feb. 28 shooting death of Billy James Sites as Albemarle County and Charlottesville police officers were attempting to serve Sites with three outstanding criminal warrants, one charging the felony of communicating a threat to kill or do bodily injury to another and the other two charging violations of a protective order.

According to the review conducted by Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph Plantania, Sites’ girlfriend, Christina Martinez, told investigators that Sites had expressed being upset about his father’s recent cancer diagnosis, and aware that he was being sought in connection with the threats that he had made to her, told her that he “wasn’t going back to jail and ‘would rather be carried by six than tried by twelve.’”

As officers attempted to apprehend Sites at the Red Roof Inn, they observed a female wearing a red hoodie – Martinez – with a white male who they were immediately able to identify as Sites.

Charlottesville Police drew their firearms and commanded Sites to show them his hands, but according to the review, “Sites repeatedly ignored this command, despite it being given numerous times. Instead of complying, Sites began backing away from Martinez and his vehicle. It was at that time that detectives noticed that Sites had a black pistol in his right hand.”

Sites fled police, eventually taking cover behind trees up a small hill, effectively hiding him from view.

Negotiations led to Sites demanding to be allowed to “get to his vehicle to get high before going to jail” and to be able to meet with his father before surrendering.

When he was told he wouldn’t be allowed to get high before being arrested, and that he could meet with his father as soon as he put his gun down, he responded, according to the review, “Y’all just going to have to shoot me, fuck it… I’m going to start firing off myself, either you let him come down, or I’m just going to start firing off at y’all … I’m going to take this little bald-headed motherfucker (referring to one of the officers on the scene), and I’m gonna peel his scalp back.”

An Albemarle County officer who had gotten to know Sites from previous interactions was able to calm the situation for 11 minutes, but those talks eventually broke down, and Sites moved toward Emmett Street, with traffic at a standstill.

Officers attempted to contain the situation using non-lethal rounds, but after the third attempt, Sites “turned to his right, extended his arm and raised his pistol to shoulder level and pointed it directly at the exposed SWAT officers who were in front of him.”

“At this time, six ACPD officers simultaneously discharged their firearms, striking Sites seven times,” the review reported. “According to the Medical Examiner, most of the wounds were to the upper torso with several to the legs and one to the ankle. The shooting lasted less than three seconds and ceased as soon as Sites hit the ground.”

Plantania’s analysis:

“When confronted by Charlottesville Detectives attempting to take him into custody, Sites fled, firing his pistol into the air on 2 different occasions. Over the course of almost 2 hours, Sites refused to surrender peacefully or drop his weapon and threatened to shoot officers on multiple occasions. At one point, he had his pistol to his own head. Sites repeatedly advanced on officers while armed and tried to make his way to areas populated by citizens, potentially putting them at risk. He did not comply with lawful commands despite 3 separate deployments of less than lethal force. At the conclusion of this event, Sites deliberately extended his arm and pointed his pistol directly at exposed and unprotected SWAT officers. One of the officers that discharged his weapon said that before firing, he was looking directly at the barrel of Site’s pistol which was aimed at him. Then, and only then, did 6 separate officers discharge their weapons. It is important to note that all 6 discharged their weapons at almost exactly the same time. This uniform response is direct evidence that all 6 perceived in a split second an imminent threat to their safety and the safety of others. Their statements made clear that in circumstances that were tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving, they each feared for their own lives, the lives of their fellow officers, and the lives of innocent civilians. All stated that immediately prior to Sites pointing his weapon at them, he was actively and intentionally ignoring commands from multiple officers from multiple agencies to show his hands, drop his weapon, and surrender peacefully. All 6 officers stopped firing immediately upon the cessation of the perceived threat, 3 seconds from start to finish.”

Statement from Albemarle County Police Chief Sean Reeves

On behalf of the men and women of the Albemarle County Police Department, I would like to acknowledge the time and attention that the Virginia State Police (VSP); the Commonwealth Attorney for Albemarle County, Mr. James Hingeley; and the Commonwealth Attorney for the City of Charlottesville, Mr. Joseph Platania, have spent over the past several months to thoroughly investigate the officer-involved shootings that occurred on August 29, 2022, that involved members of the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force, and on February 28, 2023, that involved ACPD’s SWAT Team.

It is my professional philosophy that when an officer is involved in a shooting in Albemarle County, a request be made for the Virginia State Police to investigate the incident to determine whether or not the shooting was justifiable. Parallel to VSP’s investigation, ACPD conducts an internal investigation to ensure departmental policies are adhered to.

For both shootings, VSP was asked to conduct an investigation. I made the request for the shooting that occurred on August 29, 2022, in Albemarle County, and Chief of Police of the Charlottesville Police Department, Mike Kochis, and Charlottesville’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, Joseph Platania, asked VSP to investigate the shooting that occurred on February 28, 2023, in the City. As identified in the reports from Commonwealth’s Attorney Hingeley and Commonwealth’s Attorney Platania, these investigations were conducted with full transparency and cooperation of the Albemarle County Police Department.

The officers involved in these events were placed in life-threatening situations when confronted by armed individuals who willfully ignored the officers’ instructions to surrender peacefully and directly threatened the lives of the officers and the safety of members of the public. Due to the decisions made by the two individuals, officers were left with no choice but to respond with appropriate force to neutralize an immediate threat. The Commonwealth Attorneys’ findings that detail each of these circumstances can be found here and here.

As Chief of Police, I stand by the actions of these brave officers and appreciate the tremendous support from our community as we collectively continue to recover from these events.

ACPD’s senior leadership has met with the family of Mr. Sites to discuss the events of February 28, 2023. At this time, ACPD is not inclined to release body-worn camera footage from this tragic incident.

Again, I would like to extend my appreciation to the Virginia State Police, Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingeley, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph Platania for their thorough review of these incidents. While these events ended with the tragic loss of life, I am truly grateful that no officers or community members were injured or killed during these incidents.