The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney has completed its review of the officer-involved shooting incident that occurred on Dec. 2, 2018, in Old Town Alexandria. The shooting involved one Alexandria police officer and, pursuant to APD policy, was investigated by the Virginia State Police.
The investigation determined that the Alexandria Police Officer reasonably feared for his life and therefore fired his weapon in justified self-defense.
The person who was shot in the incident, Michael Ligon, a 28-year old city resident, has been indicted on five criminal offenses: Attempted malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, discharging a firearm in a public place, and being in a public place while intoxicated from alcohol, marijuana, opiates and phencyclidine (PCP).
The maximum penalty for these offenses is 21 years of incarceration, with 5 years of that sentence constituting a mandatory sentence that cannot be suspended in whole or in part.
The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney noted that any person charged with a criminal offense is presumed to be innocent and the mere fact that a person has been indicted is not evidence that they are guilty of any crime.
Ligon is incarcerated in the Alexandria Adult Detention Center awaiting trial.