Police release bodycam video of cop fatally shooting 6'5" woman who slashed his face, kept advancing despite warnings to stop



Fairfax County, Virginia, police on Monday released bodycam video of an officer fatally shooting a 6'5" woman last month who slashed the officer's face and kept advancing on him despite his repeated warnings for her to stop.

Police said the officer just after 10 a.m. Sept. 16 responded to a residence in the 11800 block of Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston for a welfare check following a request from a mental health professional who said 33-year-old Sydney Wilson was in an agitated state. Reston is about a half hour northwest of Washington, D.C.

The officer retreated and tried to de-escalate the situation with repeated verbal commands for Wilson to 'back up!'

The officer, who was trained in crisis intervention, knocked on Wilson’s door, police said, adding that Wilson opened and immediately closed the door. The officer continued to try to speak with Wilson for two minutes and 45 seconds, explaining he wanted to check on her welfare, police said.

When Wilson opened the door again, she was holding a knife and immediately assaulted the officer outside the residence, police said.

Image source: Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department video screenshot

The officer retreated and tried to de-escalate the situation with repeated verbal commands for Wilson to "back up!" Police said the officer had backed into a dead-end hallway, but Wilson continued to advance toward him while holding the knife.

Image source: Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department video screenshot

Police said Wilson struck the officer in the head with the knife, and the officer fired his gun, striking Wilson three times in her upper body, police said.

Wilson was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead, police said.

The officer in question — First Class Peter Liu, a 14-year department veteran — was placed on restricted duty amid a departmental investigation, police said.

Image source: Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department video screenshot

Image source: Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department

Soon after the deadly incident, police said Wilson had multiple encounters with officers this year, and Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described Wilson as standing six feet, five inches tall and weighing around 330 pounds, WDVM-TV reported.

According to Wilson's obituary, in 2009 she accepted a full scholarship to Georgetown University where she played basketball, was a co-captain during her senior season, and was a member of the NAACP Georgetown University Chapter.

You can view the officer's bodycam video below as part of the police department's Monday news conference. Content warning: The bodycam video is intense and may be disturbing to some viewers:

- YouTubeyoutu.be

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Husband, Brazilian au pair have affair then kill his wife and male lured to home through fetish dating site: Prosecutors



A Virginia man has been indicted in the stabbing death of his wife and the fatal shooting of a man that occurred last year. The husband also was alleged to be involved in a love triangle with the couple's Brazilian au pair — who previously was charged with the murder of a male who was in the couple's home.

Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis and Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano announced the arrest and indictment of Brendan Banfield in connection with the 2023 double murder that occurred in Reston — which is roughly 20 miles west of Washington, D.C.

Investigators believe the husband and nanny were lovers involved in a 'sexual relationship' and devised a sordid scheme to take out the wife.

Banfield, of Reston, was charged with four counts of aggravated murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Banfield was being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on no bond.

Davis said at a Monday press conference, “I stood in the middle of a cul-de-sac street in Fairfax County and described the deaths of two persons inside of a residential home. Now, 570 days later, we know the deaths of Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield were both, in fact, murders.”

Davis added, “This much is clear, we have evidence to now allege that Christine Banfield’s life was unlawfully taken, and Joseph Ryan’s life was unlawfully taken.”

Police who responded to the Banfield home on Feb. 24, 2023, described an "appalling scene." Brendan Banfield and the family's au pair – 23-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhaes — made the 911 call, police said.

Officers found Christine Banfield, 37, in an upstairs bedroom suffering from stab wounds to the upper body. They also discovered Joseph Ryan, 39, dead from gunshot wounds to the upper body.

Banfield's wife was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Police said two firearms and a knife were recovered from the home.

Magalhaes reportedly told investigators that she and Brendan Banfield had walked in on Ryan stabbing a naked Christine Banfield with a knife. The au pair said Brendan shot at the “intruder.”

Investigators believe that the husband and nanny were lovers involved in a “sexual relationship” and devised a sordid scheme to take out the wife.

The husband and the live-in au pair are accused of shooting Ryan, who had been "summoned to the couple’s million-dollar Herndon home through a sexual fetish online site," the New York Post reported.

Prosecutors said Ryan was lured to the Banfield home by a profile on FetLife — which described itself as the "world's largest and most popular social network for the BDSM community, kink community, and fetish community."

According to the Washington Post, Ryan went to the home for a planned rendezvous with a woman identified in a dating app as “Annastasia9.” The outlet noted that there is no evidence to suggest that Christine created the profile or knew about it. Authorities have not revealed who created the profile.

Davis stated, "We know Brendan Banfield and Juliana Magalhaes, the family au pair, were involved in a romantic relationship at the time of the murders."

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelsey Gill has said that Magalhaes and Brendan began a romantic affair “several months” before the murders, based on photos of them that investigators found on the nanny’s cellphone.

Magalhaes and Banfield went to a shooting range weeks before the murders, prosecutors said. Banfield bought a Glock from the range on Jan. 28, 2023, according to WTOP.

Brendan and Magalhaes reportedly continued their relationship following the deaths of Ryan and Banfield's wife.

Magalhaes was arrested in October 2023 for Ryan's murder.

At the time of her arrest, the au pair allegedly had moved into the main bedroom of the Banfield home. Authorities said there was a framed picture of her and Brendan Banfield set on the nightstand, and her clothes were hung in the closet Christine Banfield once used.

Magalhaes was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. She was being detained at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on no bond.

“Early last year, a double murder devastated two families and shocked our entire community,” Commonwealth Attorney Descano declared during a press conference. “I will ensure that my office puts forward the strongest case possible at trial, and that we continue to seek justice for the victims and their families.”

The Banfields have a 4-year-old daughter.

Brendan Banfield is expected to be arraigned later this week.

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Cop fatally shoots 6'5" 330-pound woman who slashed his face, kept advancing despite warnings to stop: Police



A Northern Virginia police officer fatally shot a 6'5" 330-pound woman who slashed his face while continually advancing toward the officer despite his repeated warnings for her to stop, police said.

The officer’s body-worn camera was activated during the encounter in the 11800 block of Sunrise Valley Drive at the Reston Heights apartments Monday morning, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told WDVM-TV.

The woman fell to the ground after the shooting, the station said, adding that medics took her to a hospital with critical injuries, and she died there.

Davis said at a news conference that the woman’s health care provider asked for a wellness check, the station said, adding that the uniformed officer identified himself and that the woman slammed her door in the officer’s face.

The chief added that the officer kept knocking on the door, offering to get help for the woman, and that the woman opened it minutes later while in possession of a knife, WDVM said.

Davis noted that the woman — who has had multiple encounters with police this year — began attacking the officer with the knife and cut his face at least once, the station reported.

Bodycam video shows the officer repositioning himself, backing away several feet, after which the woman moved toward the officer and cut him, the chief told WDVM.

David described the 33-year-old woman as standing six feet, five inches tall and weighing around 330 pounds, the station said.

The officer told the woman at least eight times to drop the knife and stop, WDVM said, adding that she kept moving toward the officer. Davis said during the news conference that the officer opened fire multiple times.

The woman fell to the ground after the shooting, the station said, adding that medics took her to a hospital with critical injuries, and she died there.

Davis said he expects the officer to recover from his injuries, WDVM noted, adding that the woman had family and friends and that the chief and his officers feel the loss of life.

The station said this was the second deadly shooting at this apartment complex in about a month.

“Seeing police here again is of course uncomfortable,” Marvin Somoza told WDVM. “You want to feel safe where you live, right, and so I think a lot of tenants right now might be feeling unsafe.”

The chief said he reviewed the entire bodycam video and that he will release it to the public well within 30 days, the station said.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

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