February 21, 2025
The two US Park Police officers who shot and killed Bijan Ghaisar seven years ago are back on the job after federal investigators cleared them in the case. Ghaisar died after the shooting on the George Washington Memorial Parkway just outside Washington, DC, in 2017.
He was 25 and died in the same hospital where he was born to Iranian immigrants. The officers, Lucas Vinyard, 43, and Alejandro Amaya, 45, had been on paid leave since they were indicted for manslaughter in the case in 2020 and thus have had four years and three months of pay without ever having to report for work.
Amaya and Vinyard were reinstated December 16, according to a recent court filing requesting their lawsuit against the Department of Interior, which sought their reinstatement, be dismissed. “I am not surprised at all,” Kelly Ghaisar, Bijan Ghaisar’s Iranian-born mother, told The Washington Post. “[I] never expected any kind of decent outcome from the Park Police.
Their lack of transparency, the level of coverup from the bottom to leadership was apparent that they never meant to do what was safe and beneficial to the public. They looked after their own, not the people they serve.” In November, the US Department of Interior of which the Park Police is a subdivision— found that Vinyard and Amaya did not violate Park Police policies when they opened fire after pursuing Ghaisar on the parkway. On the night of November 17, 2017, police responded to a reported hit-and-run on the parkway.
Ghaisar’s SUV had been rear-ended when he suddenly stopped in the left lane, the driver and passenger from the striking vehicle told police. The inspector general’s summary said in part that the preponderance of the evidence showed the officers reasonably believed that Ghaisar had committed a felony by leaving the scene of an accident.
They were not at the scene and were responding to an incomplete radio report about the incident from a dispatcher. Video of the chase captured by a Fairfax County police dashboard camera showed Ghaisar’s SUV stopping twice during the chase, with officers approaching the car with guns drawn. Both times, Ghaisar drove off. At the third and final stop, the officers again approached with guns drawn, and Amaya stood in front of the driver’s door.
When the SUV started to move, Amaya opened fire. Seconds later, when the car began moving again, both Amaya and Vinyard fired multiple shots. Ghaisar was struck 10 times, including four bullets in his head. Neither officer was ever convicted of a crime. Federal authorities declined to prosecute after a two-year FBI investigation. At that point, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano filed manslaughter charges in state court. That set off a tug-of-war between state and federal officials over who had jurisdiction.
In October 2021, a federal judge tossed out the manslaughter charges brought by Descano’s office. The judge ruled that the officers were entitled to immunity and that their actions were proper under the circumstances. The Ghaisar family has said the officers violated their own policies by chasing Ghaisar, who was unarmed when they opened fire.
The family did receive a $5 million settlement from the government last year in a civil lawsuit alleging wrongful death. “These officers should have never pursued Bijan,” Kelly Ghaisar previously said. “Although they saw Bijan was in distress probably frightened to death — they did not communicate that with their superior.
They pulled Bijan over and drew a weapon, banged on his window, and kicked his tire. They then hunted him and pulled him over and shot him multiple times.” The two officers were told more than two years ago that they would be fired, but no action was taken. They filed a lawsuit against the Department of Interior, seeking a final decision on their employment status
