Killing of Sydney Wilson

On September 16, 2024, in Reston, Virginia, former college basketball player Sydney Wilson, an African American woman, was shot and killed by an Asian American police officer, Peter Liu. After Liu was sent to Wilson's apartment for a welfare check, Wilson brandished a kitchen knife and slashed Liu in the head multiple times before he shot her.

Sydney Wilson was born in Pennsylvania. She graduated from St. John's College High School. She formerly played college basketball for Georgetown University, and was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Wilson was 33 years old at the time of her death. According to her LinkedIn page, she worked as a leasings operations officer for JLL Mid-Atlantic. Earlier in the year, she had posted on social media about receiving a mental health training certification.

Peter Liu had been a police officer for 14 years, and had received crisis intervention training.