FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRT

FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2007 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Federal Officials Close Investigation

into Fatal Shooting
of Dr. Salvatore J. Culosi Jr. by Fairfax
County Police Officer
WASHINGTON – The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the
U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today that there is insufficient evidence to
pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against a Fairfax County Police
Department officer who shot and killed Dr. Salvatore J. Culosi Jr. on January 24,
2006.

Officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Civil Rights Division, and the FBI
met earlier today with representatives of Dr. Culosi’s family to advise them of this
decision.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and
the FBI conducted an independent investigation of the shooting incident and
carefully reviewed all of the evidence. During the investigation, federal officials
reviewed reports generated by the Fairfax County Police Department Criminal
Investigations Bureau; forensic evidence reports; the autopsy report for Dr. Culosi;
and the opinion of Dr. Roger M. Enoka, a human movement consultant. FBI agents
also re-interviewed a number of witnesses who were previously interviewed by
local investigators. After careful examination of all of the evidence, the Department
of Justice, the USAO, and the FBI determined that the tragic incident did not
constitute a prosecutable violation of the federal criminal civil rights statutes.

In order to prove a violation of the applicable federal criminal civil rights laws,
prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement
officer willfully deprived an individual of a constitutional right. Neither accident,
mistake, fear, nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish such a criminal violation.

Experienced civil rights prosecutors reviewed the voluminous reports generated

during the investigation. Based on that review, federal officials determined that the
evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officer who
fatally shot Dr. Culosi acted willfully, that is with the specific intent to do something
the law forbids. Accordingly, the Department has closed this investigation without
prosecution.

The Civil Rights Division, the USAO, and the FBI devoted many hours and
significant resources to a complete and careful review of the events surrounding Dr.
Culosi’s tragic death. The decision not to pursue criminal charges is based on
painstaking analysis of the facts developed during a lengthy and thorough
investigation. The Department of Justice remains committed to investigations of this
kind and stands ready to devote the resources required to ensure that all allegations
of serious civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated. The
Department of Justice aggressively prosecutes criminal civil rights violations
whenever the evidence developed in these investigations warrants doing so.

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