PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Commonwealth’s Attorney for Prince William County has determined that four police officers who were involved in a deadly shooting stemming from a drug-related sting operation in Woodbridge were justified in their actions. However, two men, one of whom currently remains in the hospital for injuries from the shooting, have been charged with robbery that resulted in a death.
According to a press release from the Prince William Police Department, members of a multi-agency narcotics task force were carrying out an undercover operation on Sept. 1 into Fentanyl distribution in the 14700 block of Fox Glove Court in Woodbridge.
At around 7 p.m. during the operation, members of the task force exchanged gunfire with suspects in the case. The release from police revealed that four officers in the task force — two from the Prince William Police Department and two from the City of Manassas Police Department — opened fire during the exchange, and two of the suspects, later identified as 30-year-old Shane Dareon Pollard, of Woodbridge, and 19-year-old Jaiden Malik Carter, also of Woodbridge, were struck by gunfire and taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries to the upper body. Police said a third suspect, identified as 18-year-old Jalil Michael Turner, was at the scene when the shooting broke out but he was unharmed.
According to police, it was not known if the rounds fired by the officers struck Pollard and Carter. No other injuries were reported.
On Sept. 4, Carter died from his injuries sustained during the shooting. Pollard is still in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive, police said.
Following the incident on Sept. 1, the regional Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) was deployed to conduct a criminal investigation into the four officers’ actions, according to the release. Prince William Police and Manassas Police departments would also conduct their own investigations into the shooting. The four officers involved were put on routine paid leave while these investigations occurred.
The investigations into the Sept. 1 incident revealed that earlier that day, an undercover Manassas detective in the multi-agency narcotics task force was assigned to purchase a large amount of suspected Fentanyl pills and at least one firearm from Turner, Pollard and Carter.
According to the release from police, Turner, Pollard and Carter arrived in a separate car at the 14700 block of Fox Glove Court to meet the undercover detective. Turner then got out of the car and entered the detective’s vehicle. After a brief encounter, police said Turner got out of the detective’s vehicle and returned shortly after with Carter, who got into the backseat of the detective’s vehicle while Turner got into the front passenger seat.
The detective, Turner and Carter proceeded to talk in the detective’s vehicle, but, at one point during the conversation, Turner took out a handgun and demanded money and additional property from the detective, according to police’s release. Police said Carter then ordered the detective to open the vehicle’s trunk to retrieve the money that was to be used in the orchestrated drug sale. Carter and Turner allegedly took property from the detective, including money, before getting into their car, which police said was operated by Pollard and had been repositioned behind the detective’s vehicle during this encounter.
According to police, Pollard, Turner and Carter then tried to leave the scene as other officers in the task force were arriving to arrest them. A shooting broke out, resulting in Carter and Pollard being shot. Additionally, police said task force officers found two handguns at the scene — including one that was illegally modified into a fully automatic weapon with an extended magazine.
CIRT investigators have since obtained charges against Turner and Pollard for robbery in connection to the incident that ultimately led to Carter’s death. Both Turner and Pollard are now in police custody, though the latter remains in the hospital. Police also stated that during their investigation into the shooting, deputies found out that Pollard was wanted on active warrants from an unrelated carjacking in October 2021.
Turner has been charged with robbery resulting in a death and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He is being held without bond. Pollard has been charged with robbery resulting in a death. Both men are expected to appear in court for their hearings on Oct. 17, police said.
