29°
An officer fired a taser at Bernard Placide inside the home on West Englewood Avenue off the corner of Reade Street shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Thursday.
A fellow officer then fired one round from her service weapon, fatally wounding Placide, the attorney general said.
CPR was in progress as Placide was taken by ambulance to nearby Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in grave condition with a gunshot wound in the chest, responders told Daily Voice.
The two officers -- Brian Havlicek, who fired the taser, and Officer Luana Sharpe, who fired her gun -- required hospital attention for trauma, they said.
Placide, who was 6-foot-4 inches tall and weighed 300 pounds, played offensive tackle at Dwight Morrow High School. He was graduated in 2018.
He was pronounced dead at EHMC at 9:17 a.m., a little over an hour after the initial domestic violence call, Platkin said.
The three stabbing victims were briefly hospitalized for treatment before being released, the attorney general said, adding that a knife was recovered at the scene.
State law requires the state Attorney General's Office to investigate all deaths in New Jersey that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody," no matter what the circumstances are.
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation by the attorney general's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas.
Once the investigation is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury.
The grand jury reviews a host of evidence -- including witness interviews, body and dashcam video, and forensic and autopsy results -- to determine whether or not there's cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Saddle Brook-Elmwood Park and receive free news updates.
