Mercer Times

TRENTON — The Attorney General’s Office is investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred on May 27, 2024, in Keansburg, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 1:07 p.m., officers from the Keansburg Police Department were dispatched to a residence on Seabreeze Way for a welfare check. Officers entered the residence and encountered an adult male civilian who possessed numerous weapons and a running chainsaw. As the male approached officers with the running chainsaw, one officer deployed a conductive energy device (a taser) and another officer fired his service weapon, striking the individual. Officers and emergency medical personnel rendered medical aid to the male, who was then transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment. The male is in critical but stable condition. Identities of the involved individuals are not being released at this time.

A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct 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. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved. Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2019-4 (the Independent Prosecutor Directive) directs that the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability investigate all incidents involving police use of force that results in death or serious bodily injury likely to result in death.

The investigation into the circumstances of the encounter is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.