| TRENTON – The Division of Criminal Justice today filed charges against a 14-year-old male who was involved in an incident in Trenton on the night of August 7 in which a state trooper and a county sheriff’s officer shot and wounded him. The Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team is continuing its investigation into the circumstances of the police-involved shooting and whether the shooting was legally justified.
The following charges were filed today by complaint against the juvenile:
- Unlawful Possession of a Handgun (2nd degree),
- Aggravated Assault (3rd degree), and
- Possession of a Defaced Firearm (4th degree).
On August 7 at approximately 10:15 p.m., two state troopers and a Mercer County sheriff’s officer assigned to the Targeted Integrated Deployment Effort (TIDE), a multi-agency initiative to address violence in Trenton, responded to a report of multiple shots fired in the vicinity of 500 Prospect Village. The officers observed the juvenile and two other males on foot on Louise Lane, heading toward Calhoun Street. Law enforcement witnesses and a civilian witness reported that, upon arriving at the scene, the police officers identified themselves as police officers, and the juvenile then ran away, while the two other males remained. The sheriff’s officer and one of the state troopers pursued the juvenile on foot.
The complaint alleges that, at the time of the shooting, the juvenile was in possession of a .22-caliber handgun that he pointed at the pursuing police officers. Law enforcement witnesses and a civilian eyewitness who were at the scene reported that the juvenile had the gun in his hand as he ran and that one of the officers yelled “gun” before they fired. The gun was recovered at the scene, off to the right side of where the juvenile was running when he was shot by the two officers. An emergency response truck that responded to the shooting to provide first-responder services drove over the gun on Calhoun Street and remained parked over the gun through the night while providing lighting for investigators. The gun was discovered Saturday morning by a civilian who spotted it shortly after the emergency truck was moved. The juvenile was released from Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton on Friday, August 14. He will not be identified by name because of his juvenile status.
The Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team is conducting an ongoing investigation into whether the shooting was legally justified. The Shooting Response Team is made up of deputy attorneys general, detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice, and detectives of the State Police Major Crime Unit, who are dispatched to the scene to handle investigations of shootings involving state or county law enforcement officers.
The investigation is being conducted pursuant to a new directive issued by Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman on July 28, 2015. The directive establishes investigative protocols for officer-involved shootings. The Attorney General’s Office consulted extensively with community leaders and law enforcement representatives in developing the new directive. Copies of the directives governing investigations of police use of deadly force are available on the Attorney General’s website at:
www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/agguide/directives/2006-5_SRT_OIS.pdf
www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/agguide/directives/dir2006_5.pdf
An initial press release about the incident was issued on August 10, 2015. Under the Attorney General’s new directive, an additional public statement will be made upon conclusion of the investigation.
Attorney General Hoffman and Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig urge anyone who witnessed the police-involved shooting or who has information about the shooting to contact the Attorney General’s Office confidentially. Members of the public should call the Division of Criminal Justice at (609) 571-7642. #### |
