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Paterson Officer Convicted Of Wounding Bystander With Gunshot During Dispute With Ex-Con

A Paterson police officer faces up to 18 months in prison for wounding a bystander when he fired his gun during an off-duty dispute with a known criminal outside a local 7-Eleven.

LEFT: Dante Gordon / RIGHT: Travis Mann

LEFT: Dante Gordon / RIGHT: Travis Mann

Photo Credit: LEFT: Courtesy PASSAIC COUNTY PROSECUTOR / RIGHT: Courtesy NJ DEPT of CORRECTIONS

Superior Court Judge Marybel Mercado-Ramirez ordered bail revoked and sent Dante Gordon, 28, to the Passaic County Jail to await sentencing after jurors in Paterson on Monday found him guilty of aggravated assault.

The jury at the same time acquitted Gordon of charges of carrying a weapon for an unlawful purpose, making terroristic threats and a lesser aggravated assault charge for pointing a gun at or in the direction of another.

The judge set a May 10 sentencing date.

Gordon had been suspended and ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet as a condition of release since charges were brought against him.

The incident occurred outside the 7-Eleven at the intersection of Main and Market streets around 1:30 a.m. Feb. 25, authorities said.

Gordon got into some type of dispute with 37-year-old Travis Mann of Wanaque, whose rap sheet stretches more than a decade and includes arrests for robbery and drug possession, among other offenses.

Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes, whose detectives arrested Gordon, said the officer “brandished his handgun, then discharged it recklessly, injuring a bystander.”

The victim was treated for a fragment wound, she said.

Mann, meanwhile, went on to get arrested again several times before being sent to state prison last year on convictions for making terroristic threats and hindering his apprehension out of Passaic County. He's eligible for parole in June, state Department of Corrections records show. 

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