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Three uniformed police officers in the Sussex County town were responding to a 911 call on July 4 from a concerned family member who said Gulia Dale, III, 61, had a gun, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
The units arrived and blocked in Dale as he backed a pickup truck from the driveway of the Clive Place home around 9:30 p.m., police dashcam video shows.
Dale at first complies with orders to exit the truck, then opens and leans inside the rear driver’s side door, bodycam footage shows.
Then it happens: Dale starts to get back in the driver’s seat and suddenly turns and rushes toward the officers with both arms pointed forward “with an object in his hand,” the attorney general said.
Officers Steven Kneidl and Garrett Armstrong instantly open fire.
They render aid after fatally wounding Dale, who was later pronounced dead by medics at the scene, Bruck noted.
“Investigators recovered a .45-caliber Glock 21 firearm near Mr. Dale,” the attorney general added.
Bruck released the 911 call, dashcam recordings and bodycam video on Monday.
State law requires that his office conduct investigations of a person’s death when it happens "occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody," he noted.
The attorney general said he released the recordings in response to a Open Public Records Act request, as well as under his own office's directive “designed to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters.”
The recordings were shared with Dale’s family and their attorney late last week, he said.
CLICK HERE for the recordings, which are posted online.
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