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The Attorney General’s Office today released footage from four police officers’ body-worn cameras of a fatal police-involved shooting on May 3, 2023, in Newark, New Jersey. The civilian who died during the encounter was previously identified as Everett Rand, 29, of Newark.
The fatal shooting is under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA). The recordings are being released pursuant to policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters. Investigators previously met with the family of Mr. Rand to provide them an opportunity to review the recordings before they were publicly released.
According to the preliminary investigation, officers responded on May 3 at approximately 8:34 p.m. to a 911 call that individuals had been shot inside a residence on Johnson Avenue in Newark.
The investigation revealed that responding officers encountered a man leaving the residence where the two individuals had been shot. The male was observed to be discarding an item inside a nearby dumpster. A semi-automatic handgun with a large capacity magazine was located in the dumpster later in the evening. Multiple officers chased the male, later identified as Mr. Rand, on foot while other officers gained entry to the home on Johnson Avenue.
Mr. Rand fled around the corner to the sidewalk where two officers from the Newark Police Department, Officer Steven Ferreira and Officer Ryan Castro, discharged their firearms at Mr. Rand, fatally wounding him. A handgun, not belonging to law enforcement, was recovered near Mr. Rand.
When police entered the residence, they found a 27-year-old man from Newark deceased from a gunshot wound and an 8-year-old boy who had been struck by gunfire. The child was transported to University Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The recordings can be viewed here: https://njoag.box.com/s/780hssklelvsvjijvwd4f9z9lu7vue12
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
This investigation is being conducted pursuant to a state law enacted in January 2019 (P.L. 2019, c.1), which requires that the Attorney General’s Office conduct all 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. Separately, the Independent Prosecutor Directive, which was issued in December 2019, outlines a 10-step process for conducting these investigations. The Directive establishes clear procedures governing such investigations to ensure that they are conducted in a full, impartial and transparent manner. Under both state law and the Directive, when the entire investigation is complete, the case will be presented to a grand jury, typically consisting of 16 to 23 citizens, to make the ultimate decision regarding whether criminal charges will be filed.
Further information about how fatal police encounters are investigated in New Jersey under the Independent Prosecutor Directive is posted on the Attorney General’s website at http://www.njoag.gov/independent-prosecutor/
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