I know it's actually a song (by Simon and Garfunkel ©), but the words are absolutely beautiful.

Aaron Robert Brown, you leave a world that was bettered by your presence. May you find the peace you have longed for all your too-short life. We will all miss you.

Awww hun! I'm going to cry, not only is it a beautiful song. Aaron was only 17!

:no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

:heartbeat: Pat

18, actually, I got the birth year wrong.

:love: Thanks Pat. This really means a lot to me. I still can't belive that it really happened.

I'm so sorry hun, and it was only yesterday. *cries* :hug: :hug:

:heartbeat: Pat

It's still today for me...and I had to go to a concert, so I missed the vigil at the site. There was a news story about him on the local TV channel, and I couldn't see the screen I was crying so hard. It's only just starting to sink in...



WASHINGTONPOST.COM
An 18-year-old was killed by police early yesterday after he and a group of friends left an Alexandria restaurant without paying, got into an SUV and then tried to hit an off-duty police officer, who fired at the vehicle, striking a passenger, police said.

Police said Aaron R. Brown of Springfield was pronounced dead at the scene, a tiny parking lot outside the International House of Pancakes in the 6200 block of Duke Street. Brown was with three friends, who were not injured in the 3:40 a.m. shooting, police said. The Alexandria officer, a part-time security guard at the restaurant, also was not hurt.

The officer, a 13-year member of the department whom police would not identify, was put on administrative leave, said Capt. John Crawford, a police spokesman.

"We have so many victims involved in this case, from the 18-year-old who was killed to his friends who were with him to the officer, who made a split-second decision he will have to live with forever. We rely on our training and hope we make the right decision every time," Crawford said outside the restaurant yesterday. "It's a tragedy every way you look at it. "

Crawford said the officer, who was in uniform, was told by a restaurant employee that the teenagers had walked out on their bill.

The officer ran out to the parking lot, a tight space shared by IHOP patrons and guests at the Comfort Inn to which the restaurant is attached, and tried to stop the youths from fleeing. He stepped into the path of the 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Crawford said, and, "fearing for his safety," shot at the sport-utility vehicle.

Brown, sitting behind the driver, was struck. It was not immediately known how many shots were fired, Crawford said.

Police said the Jeep's driver, identified as 19-year-old Stephen J. Smith of Alexandria, was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana. He was released on bond yesterday afternoon, said Amy Bertsch, a police spokeswoman.

Crawford said the findings of internal investigations will be forwarded to Alexandria's chief prosecutor, S. Randolph Sengel, who will decide whether the shooting was justified. The case will also be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for an independent review, Crawford said, as well as to a civilian group that reviews all police-involved incidents.

I'm sorry bella. I'll pray for him. :cry:

:heartbeat: Pat

Thank you. :hug: :heartbeat:

Oh gosh, those pictures are so wonderful.

I was there for that last one...the giant pile.
I took a picture of it too.

I've never seen happier young men in my entire life than when they were making complete asses of themselves outside the District's highschool. I dont even remember what highschool,

I just know Aaron was happy and laughing, and so were the rest of us.

And thats how I'll always remember him. -_-

Oh my gosh, you're going to make my cry.

Oh Trishka...the next few days are going to be so hard...scratch that, the next few months. I keep expecting him to pop out from behind a bush and go, "Aha! I fooled'ya! You though I was dead!" and then do a little dance. Then I would punch him really hard, and everything would be okay.

Goodbye Aaron. We love you, and miss you very much. :ghost:

Awww, he looks so happy in that pile picture. I'm so sorry. He was handsome too. :cry:

:heartbeat: Pat

Police Account in Teen's Shooting Disputed
Officer Was Not in Front Of SUV, Passenger Says

By Carol Morello and Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, March 1, 2006; Page A01

A passenger yesterday disputed the initial police account of the fatal shooting of a teenager in the parking lot of a pancake restaurant over the weekend, saying the off-duty Alexandria police officer was not directly in front of their Jeep when he began firing.

Aaron Daughtrey, one of six teenagers in the SUV, said the Jeep was turning around the corner of a row of parked cars when the officer first opened fire from a distance that Daughtrey estimated was 20 to 30 feet.

The officer fired "first to the side, then head-on," said Daughtrey, 18, who was sitting in the hatch of the Jeep on a box that he said was pierced by a bullet about 3:40 a.m. Saturday. One of the shots shattered the rear side window, striking and killing his friend Aaron R. Brown, 18, of Springfield, who was seated behind the driver.

Daughtrey's account was the first offered by one of the passengers in the vehicle. He spoke to reporters outside his parents' home in Burke with his attorney by his side. Police would not comment on Daughtrey's statements because they have not determined what happened.

"The case remains under investigation, and our policy is not to comment on ongoing investigations," Amy Bertsch, a police spokeswoman, said last night.

"We said the vehicle was moving toward him. . . . Whether that was at an angle or straight on or what, we can't get into that. We're looking at the evidence, reviewing everything, to determine what happened."

Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille (D) did not return calls for comment last night. A spokesman for the city, Steve Mason, said officials "will not comment about the case at all until the police investigation is complete."

Officer Carl Stowe, a 13-year member of the force, was working security part time at the International House of Pancakes on Duke Street, police said. He told police that he had followed the teenagers out of the restaurant after they left without paying their bill.

Capt. John Crawford, a police spokesman, said on the day of the shooting that Stowe stepped into the path of the vehicle, and, "fearing for his safety," shot at it.

Alexandria police officers are allowed to shoot at a moving vehicle if they feel their lives are in danger and no bystanders are at risk -- but only if they have exhausted all other means of defense, according to the department's use-of-force policy.

Daughtrey and Breklyn Paulitzky, another passenger in the SUV, described a chaotic scene. They said the six friends were unaware of any orders to stop. Daughtrey said they could not have heard anything Crowe might have shouted because the windows were up and they were listening to music.

"I didn't hear him say 'Stop.' Nothing. No hand held up. Nothing," said Daughtrey, whose attorney would not permit him to answer questions about anything that happened before the friends got into the Jeep.

Daughtrey said the driver, Stephen J. Smith, 19, of Alexandria, swerved to avoid striking the officer and collided with a parked car.

"Steve-o tried to dodge the bullets at first," Daughtrey said. "He tried to swerve around the officer. He cut it far to the left. Then he cut right and hit the other vehicle. . . . He swerved to miss the cop, and he hit the vehicle."

Paulitzky, 18, who was seated in the back seat, next to the right side window, said Brown slumped behind her and Daughtrey's twin brother, Adam. Brown was gagging, she said, and his friends did not initially realize he had been shot. Adam Daughtrey was performing CPR on Brown when he died, said Kimberly J. Phillips, Aaron Daughtrey's attorney.

Smith was charged with driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana. He was released on bond and could not be reached for comment.

According to court records, Smith failed field sobriety tests and registered a blood alcohol level of 0.02 more than two hours after the shooting. Virginia law allows officers to charge anyone younger than 21 -- the state's legal drinking age -- with drunken driving if a trace amount of alcohol is found.

The other four teenagers were not told that Brown had died until after they made statements to police, Aaron Daughtrey said. Stowe could not be located for comment yesterday.

As part of their investigation, officials said, detectives will rely on ballistics tests, a reconstruction of the crash scene and witness accounts to determine how the incident unfolded.

The case will then be forwarded to Alexandria Commonwealth's Attorney S. Randolph Sengel, who will decide whether criminal charges are warranted. He declined to comment until he makes a determination.

Debbie Weierman, an FBI spokeswoman, said investigators began a "preliminary review of the circumstances surrounding the shooting to determine whether or not to open an FBI investigation."

Aaron Daughtrey said he believes it was unnecessary to open fire on the Jeep. "I don't know why he opened fire on a vehicle full of kids when what he should have been doing was taking tags down."

According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a group that records the slaying of every U.S. police officer and etches the officers' names on a memorial at Judiciary Square in Washington, 143 officers were killed by a vehicle from 1995 through 2004. In 2004, the last year for which statistics are available, 13 officers were killed in that manner.

In February 2005, Pentagon police officer James M. Feltis III died five weeks after he was hit by a suspected carjacker who sped across the Pentagon parking lot toward a traffic booth where Feltis was working. He tried to stop the car, but the driver accelerated into him before crashing into a guardrail.

Staff writer Allan Lengel contributed to this report.

My absolute favorite picture of Aaron...















:heartbeat: I miss you brother. :heartbeat:

Those are awesome. I'm really sad I never knew this guy, Feebs.

The first, hula, and last one are my favorites. Pat's right. He's definitely handsome. :yes: Strong jaw. Stubborn like you and me, right?

I love you. Be my prom date?

Awww... thanks darlin'.

You have no idea.

Of course, baby doll. pulpfiction :getdown: <--- That'll be us. Everyone else will be jealous of our mad dancing skillz. Teehee. ^_^