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A state grand jury voted not to file any criminal charges against the Fort Lee officers who killed 42-year-old Mohamed Bounaouar, of Las Vegas, NV, who was fully naked when he lunged at them with a knife at a John Street apartment on Feb. 4, 2023, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
Click here for a series of bodyworn cam footage of the incident released by the NJ Attorney General's Office.
Bounaouar’s death was investigated by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) and presented to New Jersey residents serving on the grand jury in accordance with the Independent Prosecutor Directive of 2019.
Fort Lee police officers were called to John Street following a 911 call from a family member saying that Bounaouar was inside the house and armed with a knife, the AG's office said. Bounaouar was acting in an aggressive manner, and cutting his own belongings.
Bounaouar and four others were inside the townhouse when officers arrived. Officers went inside and tried speaking with Bounaouar from the bottom of a staircase. All but one family member were able to leave the house, as Bounaouar was on the second floor and the fourth family member was on the third, Platkin said.
More Fort Lee officers responded including crisis negotiators, the Emergency Services Unit (ESU), and continued trying to negotiate with Bounaouar throughout the morning. Meanwhile, Bounaouar threw items down the stairs toward officers, and broke multiple items throughout the home.
In an effort to get the remaining family member out of the third floor, additional officers were positioned on a neighboring balcony, adjacent to the balcony of the townhouse that Bounaouar was occupying.
Around 10:20 a.m., the Fort Lee Fire Department and police, using a bucket truck, attempted to remove the remaining family member from the townhouse’s third-floor window.
That's when Bounaouar left the home and went onto. the second-floor balcony behind the home.
"There, with a knife in his hand, he moved in the direction of the officers who were on the neighboring balcony," Platkin said.
Officer Emmanuel Espinal deployed a Taser and detectives John Gallo and Stephen Domenick discharged their firearms, Platkin said. Officer Espinal then deployed his taser a second time.
After hearing the gunfire, the officers who had been posted at the bottom of the stairs, within the home, made their way up the staircase to the second floor. They found Bounaouar wounded and lying on the floor of the balcony.
Ordered by police officers to drop the knife, Bounaouar stood up and moved toward them, still holding the knife, Platkin said.
Officers Matthew Lyle and Gabriel Avella discharged their firearms, striking Bounaouar, the AG said. Officers then removed two knives found near Bounaouar and emergency medical personnel rendered first aid at the scene.
Bounaouar was pronounced dead at approximately 10:39 a.m. One officer sustained a non-life threatening ricochet gunshot injury to his hand.
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