NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—City police who backed up Franklin cops on an “assault in progress” call shot and injured a man on Somerset Street around 2:15pm on September 1.
The man was wielding a large knife, sometimes referred to as a machete, and “lunged” at officers, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolonda Ciccone.
He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital by ambulance, and is expected to survive his injuries, according to our sources.
The shooting occurred along Route 27, between Lufberry and Quentin Avenues. A portion of the incident was captured in a video obtained by New Brunswick Today.
Recorded from across Route 27, the footage shows the man with the machete arguing with a group of at least eight officers, seven of whom have their guns drawn and one with a taser.
While one officer is looking off to the side, the man bolts in his direction before being quickly gunned down. It did not appear anyone else was injured in the incident.
At least two New Brunswick officers, including Marvin Shaw and Raymond Hansen, shot their weapons at the man, according to our sources.
The video shows another officer wielding and deploying a taser on the man. It’s not clear if any Franklin Township officers used their weapons.
Police recovered the man’s weapon, and left behind four yellow evidence markers on the Franklin Township side of the highway, in front of the Tacos Basilio restaurant.
Somerset County authorities confirmed that the incident began on the other side of the line that divides Middlesex and Somerset, in neighboring Franklin Township.
“This incident which began in Franklin Township subsequently transitioned into New Brunswick,” said Frank Roman of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
Middlesex County authorities will be in charge of investigating the police shooting. Had the shooting been fatal, the state Attorney General’s Office would have taken over the case.
Police initially responded the area “on a report of an assault in progress involving a man armed with a knife,” according to Ciccone, the prosecutor investigating the shooting.
Our sources confirmed that it all began with a call to Franklin Township police, but the situation ultimately escalated after New Brunswick officers were called in to assist.
The man with the machete, whose identity is not known at this time, allegedly led police across the highway, and into New Brunswick, before the confrontation came to a head in front of 608 Somerset Street.
“Upon arrival, the police officers attempted to deescalate the situation; however, the individual lunged at the officers with the knife,” reads a statement from Ciccone’s office.
“In response, officers shot at and struck the individual.”
It’s not the first time a police shooting has occurred near the Middlesex-Somerset border. In April 2016, Franklin Township police chased a man named Diahlo Grant from Franklin into New Brunswick where they fatally shot him, sparking mass protests.
It’s also not the only serious investigation along the county line here this week
Just five days earlier, Somerset County authorities investigated a double fatal one-car crash, also on Route 27, less than one mile south of the shooting scene. As we reported, the driver was an Edison police officer who now faces charges of vehicular homicide.
The September 1 shooting is at least the thirteenth to take place in New Brunswick so far this year. The shootings have injured at least eleven people, and claimed the life of one more.
The MCPO says their investigation is “active and ongoing” and ask anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area to call Detective Kevin Schroeck at (732) 745-4054.
Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.
