A driver was shot and killed by a New Jersey State Police trooper in Moonachie, Bergen County, at around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The shooting followed a crash in which a Kia Soul, chased by police from Carlstadt, struck a building. The New Jersey Attorney General's Office is investigating what happened.
A male driver was shot and killed by a New Jersey State Police trooper in Moonachie, Bergen County. According to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, the incident occurred at around 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in an industrial area where Gotham Parkway meets West Commercial Avenue in Moonachie.
According to local media reports, police pursued the man's Kia Soul from nearby Carlstadt, and the vehicle came to a stop after hitting a building. A state trooper then fired, and the man, who was shot in the neck, died.
As of the evening of Thursday, Oct. 29, a day after the incident, authorities had not said why the pursuit began or what happened immediately before the shooting. The identities of the man who died and of the trooper who fired have also not been released. New Jersey State Police referred inquiries to the Attorney General's Office, which said it would release additional information once the investigators' report is complete.
Attorney General's Office Directly Investigates Deaths Involving Police
Under a state law enacted in 2019, when a person dies in an encounter with police in New Jersey, the state Attorney General's Office investigates directly rather than the county prosecutor. The findings are submitted to a grand jury, which decides whether the officer faces criminal liability.
Moonachie is about a 15-minute drive from areas with large Korean American populations, including Palisades Park, Ridgefield and Fort Lee. Police vehicles gathered around the scene for some time, and traffic in the area was closed off.