Fairfax Co. police release body camera footage of a shooting that left a woman dead

Fairfax County police have released body camera footage of a shooting in Reston, Virginia, last month that left a woman dead after she apparently stabbed an officer in the face.

On the morning of Sept. 16, the officer responded to the woman's apartment complex on Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston after a medical professional asked police to conduct a welfare check on her because she was reportedly in an “agitated state.”

WTOP's Dick Uliano reported that the video shows the violent encounter between the officer and 33-year-old Sydney Wilson.

Body camera video shows the officer knocking on her apartment door. The woman opened it and quickly closed the door, Uliano reported.

When the officer knocks a second time, Wilson opens the door and immediately begins swinging a knife at the officer, hitting him in the head.

He orders her to stop, but she continues toward him, accompanying him to the end of a short, dead-end hallway where the officer finally opens fire. Wilson is seen attacking the officer with the knife before firing three shots to stop the attack.

Emergency responders attempted to render aid to Wilson. She was transported to a hospital where she later died.

The officer, later identified by Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis as Peter Liu, is a 14-year veteran who suffered a non-life-threatening head wound. Uliano said police had opened a criminal investigation into the use of force and an investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau was also underway.

Liu is currently on limited duty. Davis said the officer did an excellent job trying to de-escalate the situation before he was forced to open fire.

You can watch the body camera video below. Warning: The following video contains graphic images that may be unsuitable for certain audiences.

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