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Roy K. Jackel, 41, was “holding his arm behind his back and ignoring their commands to show his hands” when Franklin Township Police Sgt. David Jernegen finally shot him in Buena Vista on April 5, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.
Officers provided medical aid until EMS arrived and pronounced Jackel dead, Grewal said.
Township police, who are in Gloucester County, had responded to a mutual aid call from their Buena Vista colleagues in Atlantic County to investigate a motor vehicle accident involving Jackel at Cumberland Road and Tuckahoe Road, the attorney general said.
Jackel ran from the scene into the woods, then doubled back, got behind the wheel of an marked, unoccupied police vehicle and sped off, he said.
Jackel stopped less than a half-mile away, on East Oak Road near Cumberland Avenue, then got out and ran toward the pursuing officers with his hand behind his back before he was shot, Grewal said.
SEE: Man Who Stole Police Car After Crash Shot, Killed By Officer In South Jersey
State law and his own guidelines both require Grewal’s office to investigate deaths that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody."
A 10-step process by his Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) ensures that the investigation are done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner,” the attorney general said.
It included, among other things, a review of all mobile video recorders in the police vehicle.
Grewal released those, as well as audio recordings of police communications related to the incident, to the public on Tuesday: CLICK HERE FOR THE RECORDINGS
There is no body camera footage, Grewal said.
Before Tuesday’s public release, investigators gave the recordings to Jackel’s family, the attorney general said.
Once the investigation is complete, the results will be presented to a grand jury -- ordinarily consisting of 16 to 23 citizens -- which will determine whether or not criminal charges are in order, Grewal said.
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