Two U.S. Park Police officers who shot and killed an unarmed man along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in 2017 did not violate agency policies including those involving the use of lethal force, Interior Department investigators say in a report issued Tuesday.
In what could be the final official inquiry related to the death of Bijan Ghaisar, the Office of Inspector General concluded that the two officers acted “reasonably” and in a manner consistent with key Park Police policies when they shot the 25-year-old accountant.
“We concluded this because the preponderance of the evidence showed the officers reasonably believed that Ghaisar posed an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to [an officer] based on the facts and circumstances confronting them at the time, which is the standard permitting the use of deadly force,” the 36-page OIG report states.
The review by Interior’s watchdog also determined that the officers’ pursuit of Ghaisar that preceded the shooting was consistent with the U.S. Park Police vehicular pursuit policy.
