[Archived] Officer Cleared, Lignon Indicted in Relation to December Officer-Involved Shooting

For Immediate Release: February 12, 2019

Note: Please find a corrected press release. The original press release erroneously stated that Mr. Ligon is awaiting sentencing.  It should have stated he is awaiting trial. 

The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney announced that it has completed its review of the officer-involved shooting incident that occurred on December 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 Alexandria Police Officer Vaccaro 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: 1) Attempted Malicious Wounding of a Law Enforcement Officer, 2) Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, 3) Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, 4) Discharging a Firearm in a Public Place and 5) 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.

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. Furthermore, Rule 3.6 of the Virginia State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys states, in pertinent part: ‘A lawyer participating in or associated with the… prosecution … of a criminal matter that may be tried to a jury shall not make or participate in making an extrajudicial statement… that the lawyer knows, or should know, will have a substantial likelihood of interfering with the fairness of a trial by jury.’ Therefore, the Commonwealth is prohibited from discussing the evidence, its trial strategy or its work product prior to disposition of the matter.

Additional information about this incident will be released once the criminal case against Mr. Ligon has been adjudicated in a court of law.

Mr. Ligon is incarcerated in the Alexandria Adult Detention Center awaiting trial.