Georgetown women’s basketball team has been slammed after it paid tribute to a former player who was shot dead by a cop as she attacked him with a knife.
Dozens of social media users have criticized the post saying the former player was attacking the officer and was a danger to his life.
Shocking police body camera footage showed the 6ft 6in Sydney Wilson, 33, charging at Officer Peter Liu armed with a knife while he was attempting to perform a welfare check on Wilson.
The commercial estate manager slashed the officer multiple times in his face before the cop fired his gun. Liu retreated down the hallway before firing off another three shots killing Wilson.
A row has now broken out involving Wilson’s old basketball team at Georgetown University after they paid tribute to her on X.
The statement from the team read: ‘Georgetown women’s basketball mourns the tragic loss of Sydney Wilson (C’13). Forever a Hoya.’
Shocking police body camera video shows the moment a Virginia woman was shot dead by an officer after she charged him with a knife
Sydney Wilson (pictured) was shot and killed by Officer Peter Liu after she attacked him with a knife while he was performing a welfare check
A row has now broken out involving Wilson’s old basketball team at Georgetown University after they paid tribute to her on X. The statement read: ‘Georgetown women’s basketball mourns the tragic loss of Sydney Wilson (C’13). Forever a Hoya’
Since then the post has been slammed online with social media users demanding it is taken down.
One person said: ‘You should delete this in shame.’
An X user with the username Honest Abe wrote: ‘Tragic loss? She literally charged with a knife in her hand.’
Nik Berg said: ‘How is this real?’
The row comes after Fairfax County Police in Virginia released a body cam video showing the incident in detail.
It shows Officer Liu arriving at Wilson’s apartment in Reston, Virginia, at 10am on September 16 to perform a welfare check.
Officer Liu – who had 14 years of experience in crisis intervention – knocked on the door and Wilson opened.
When the officer identified himself, she slammed it back shut.
For the next three minutes, the policeman continued to knock, only for the 6ft 6in Wilson to open the door and charge him with a knife.
Wilson is accused of stabbing the officer multiple times in his face until the cop fired his gun.
The post from Georgetown women’s basketball team has since been slammed online by social media users
For three minutes, the policeman continued to knock, only for the 6ft 6in Wilson to open the door and charge him with a knife
Liu retreated down the hallway before firing off another three shots and calling for help.
Wilson was given CPR at the scene but was pronounced dead from the gunshot wounds at a local hospital.
Police Chief Kevin Davis said Liu did his best and prevented the situation from being nastier.
‘It could have been much, much, much worse; the slash, gash and slash wound he received was at the top of his forehead,’ he said.
A mental health professional asked the police to perform a welfare check on Wilson.
Davis admitted that these sorts of checks are usually done in tandem with another mental health professional.
However, the usual co-responder was unavailable at the time as they were on another call.
Davis believes the clinician not showing up on the scene prevented the incident from becoming deadlier.
‘Clinicians absolutely expose themselves to an element of danger any time they get out of a police car and go up to a door or a scene of a crash or an outdoor scenario with a police officer, and there’s an element of risk associated with it.’
Sydney Wilson, 33, a commercial real estate manager in the DC area, was visited by an officer for a welfare check at her apartment in Reston on September 16 at 10 a.m.
Police Chief Kevin Davis said the officer did his best and prevented the situation from being nastier
He added that he doesn’t know that a mental health professional could’ve stopped the incident from turning out how it did.
Wilson, a former Georgetown University basketball player, was remembered by her former school in an Instagram post.
‘Georgetown women’s basketball mourns the tragic loss of Sydney Wilson (C’13). Forever a Hoya.’
Officer Liu remains on administrative duties as an internal investigation into the shooting continues.
