TRENTON – The Attorney General’s Office is investigating a police-involved shooting that occurred on August 12, 2024, in Newark. One adult male sustained a gunshot wound. His identity is not being released at this time.
According to the preliminary information, at approximately 8:34 p.m., two uniformed officers from the Newark Police Department in a marked patrol vehicle noticed a reportedly stolen SUV parked in the area of Clinton Place near the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue in Newark. Upon investigating, they observed an adult male seated in the parked vehicle’s front passenger seat. The officers approached the vehicle and, as they were detaining the passenger, a second male exited a nearby store, entered the vehicle, and got behind the wheel.
Officers then attempted to detain the male who had gotten into the driver’s seat. A struggle ensued, and the vehicle accelerated, initially backward and then forward. One police officer fired his duty weapon, striking the driver. The vehicle struck the officers’ patrol car, which was positioned at an angle in front of the reportedly stolen vehicle. The vehicle then traveled forward across the street, onto a sidewalk, and crashed into a building and then into unoccupied vehicles parked along the street.
Officers provided medical aid to the driver, who was later transported to University Hospital in Newark, where he is in critical but stable condition. Two police officers were also transported to University Hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released.
N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2) requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved. Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2019-4 (the “Independent Prosecutor Directive”) directs that the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability investigate all incidents involving police use of force that result in death or serious bodily injury likely to result in death.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
