Grand Jury: Trenton PD Had To Shoot To Stop Man Pointing Gun

Two separate 911 calls of a suicidal man threatening to harm himself came in to police on March 14, 2019, state Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.

The responding officers were joined by two others who’d been called to the same North Olden Avenue more than four hours earlier, he said.

“If you come in here, I’ll shoot you,” Jason Williams, 42, told the officers, Bruck said.

“Concerned for Mr. Williams’ safety, officers opened the door to check on him,” the attorney general said. “They were met by Mr. Williams, who was pointing what appeared to be a firearm at them and yelling, ‘I told you.’

“Officers gave commands for Mr. Williams to drop the apparent gun, but he did not comply,” Bruck said.

Two officers fired service weapons, wounding Williams, he said.

He was pronounced dead about a half-hour later at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, the attorney general said.

The weapon turned out to be an airsoft gun, he said.

Despite the obvious circumstances, state law and his own guidelines require Bruck’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 ensures that the investigation are done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner,” he said.

Those results are presented to a grand jury -- ordinarily consisting of 16 to 23 citizens -- which determines whether or not criminal charges are in order after reviewing evidence collected by Bruck’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA).

Grand jurors in this case reviewed evidence that included bodycams and the testimony of civilian and police witnesses before determining on Monday that “the actions of the officers who fired upon Mr. Williams were justified and no charges should be filed against them,” Bruck said.

The attorney general noted that a “conflicts check” was conducted to assure that “no actual or potential conflict of interest was found involving any individual assigned to the investigation.”

OPIA Executive Director Thomas Eicher also reviewed the findings before they were presented to the grand jury in Trenton, he added.

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