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Murder or self-defense: Jurors deliberating in shooting of 2 Fairfax Co. teens

Zachary Burkard's lawyer says he was trying to protect himself and his buddy when he shot and killed two South County High School classmates.

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Editor's Note: The images of the defendant and the victims in the video above were provided by the prosecutor's office.

The fate of a Fairfax County 19-year-old is now in the hands of jurors, who will continue deliberating Thursday morning.

Zachary Burkard's lawyer insists it was self-defense when the then 18-year-old shot two classmates in a friend's garage after a series of threats and challenges on social media.

Prosecutors call it first-degree murder. 

The deadly incident happened in a home near South County High School, where both victims and the accused were students. The judge just released bodycam video from the first officer to arrive on the scene where the two teens had been shot. 

"Hey! Hands where we can see them. Hands up, stop, stop, stop! On the curb!" the officer shoots and one of the teens who fled the garage. Collapsed on the sidewalk is Calvin Van Pelt, 16, who'd been shot twice in the back and died later.

"Where's the shooter?" the officer yells. In the garage he found Burkard, kneeling over Ersheen Elaiasher, 17, who he'd shot twice in the chest. Elaiasher also died.

"Who's the guy down there who says he's been shot?" the officer asks Burkard. "I'm not sure. I might have hit him too," Burkard replied.

"Who did the shooting?" says. "Me," answers Burkard. "They were fighting right there. They wouldn't knock it off." 

"I have the shooter. He admitted shooting. He's trying to help the person he shot," the officer says into his radio in the bodycam video.

Fairfax County jurors are now deciding if Burkard committed two first-degree murders, or acted to protect himself and his good friend, Nick.

The case could turn on a threatening video Burkard posted on Snapchat, challenging Elaiasher, the leader of a rival South County High School drug ring. 

Credit: Fairfax County Circuit Court
Zachary Burkard points the gun he later used to kill two classmates at a house he thinks belongs to one of them in this threatening video he posted to Snapchat.

Elaiasher turned up with three buddies for a fight and battled a single friend of Burkard's in his friend's garage. The defense maintains all four teens jumped Nick. Prosecutors say the fight was over when Burkard stepped into the garage from the house and shot first Elaiasher and then Van Pelt.

But in closing arguments, Burkard's lawyer, senior public defender Bryan Kennedy, said after the shooting, the teen was trying to save Elaiasher's life. "Those," he said, "aren't the actions of a murderer."

We're keeping an eye on this. We'll let you know when the jurors reach a verdict.

RELATED: Man alleged to have killed his classmates over social media beef testifies he never meant to hurt anyone

RELATED: Man wanted for stabbing following argument in Fairfax County, police say

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