DEPTFORD — A fatal police shooting Sunday has prompted a mandatory state investigation into a deadly confrontation at a city home.
Daniel Munoz, who was at the KISS club Sunday and again Monday attending addiction recovery meetings, said he had “never seen so many police cars,” describing the busy scene Sunday afternoon and evening with several law enforcement agencies, including the Deptford Township Police and New Jersey State Police.
“They closed the roads,” Munoz said, pointing to the intersection of Delsea Drive and Fox Run Road. “I saw them using searchlights in the woods and then I heard gunfire.”
According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, this is what happened:
- Police responded to a home on Fox Run Road after a 911 call.
- At 1:22 p.m., the officer fired his service weapon
- As a result of the shooting, the victim, identified only as a man, was fatally wounded.
- Emergency medics provided assistance, but at 1:55 p.m. the man died at the scene.
The Attorney General’s Office is required to investigate any death that occurs during an encounter with an off-duty officer or when a person dies in custody.
“There are few investigations more important — or more difficult — than those involving the use of force by law enforcement officers against civilians.” says the directive for such probes.
It outlines a 10-step process for such investigations and aims to “ensure they are conducted fully, fairly and free from any potential bias”.
In addition to specifying investigative measures, the directive notes that first responders to law enforcement incidents “are required to eliminate any imminent threat to public safety and minimize loss of life.”
It said the first steps include reporting to the Attorney General’s Office through the district attorney’s office and selecting an independent investigator by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.
“Generally, the directive states that an independent investigator cannot be a law enforcement agency that employs any employee under surveillance or that has ‘any other actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest.’
OPIA is generally the default investigator in cases involving the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers or the death of a civilian during an officer-involved encounter.
The remaining steps “will be developed during the investigation”, added the directive, which has been in effect since December 2019.
These steps include the initial investigation and gathering of evidence, the public release of images of the incident (if requested), and the completion of the investigation.
Among other cases, OPIA is currently investigating the death of a 43-year-old man who fell and died while running from police in Newark on January 5.
Another investigation centers on the fatal shooting of a man by Morris County law enforcement officers at a motel in Pine Brook on Dec. 31.
The directive specifies that, with certain authorized exceptions, “only law enforcement officers working under the direct supervision of an independent investigator may participate in an investigation or share or receive information about any aspect of an investigation.”
It also provides for an independent oversight review of the investigation, a grand jury trial (if applicable), and an announcement of whether or not a grand jury has decided to indict the officer.
Most recently, a grand jury voted to indict a Trenton police officer who used pepper spray during the July 2020 arrest of a 64-year-old man who was hospitalized and later died, OPIA reported on Jan. 4.
“Under the law and the Attorney General’s Use of Force Policy, officers are permitted to use force only when reasonable and necessary,” said Thomas J. Eicher, OPIA’s executive director, announcing the grand jury’s decision.
In a separate case, a grand jury in December acquitted an Atlantic City officer after investigating a fatal collision between a patrol car and a 63-year-old bicyclist in June 2021.
The final step under the directive is referral for administrative review.
In a statement Sunday, the Attorney General’s Office said it was not releasing any additional details about the Deptford shooting “at this time.”
Staff writer Phaedra Tretton contributed to this report.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.