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That’s why a state grand jury found that police were more than justified in shooting a West New York gunman who’d just wounded one officer while firing point-blank at them with a gun in each hand.
Dramatic police bodycam footage shows Kevin Colindres, 32, opening fire after emerging from his 59th Street home on June 3, 2022.
In a clip recorded through the front-door window, Colindres is seen entering the vestibule in a t-shirt and shorts with both hands behind his back as police investigate a domestic violence call.
He suddenly raises his arms, revealing a gun in each hand. He fires, wounding one of the officers.
Police quickly take up positions.
About 15 minutes later, the heavily tattooed Colindres emerges from the front door of a neighboring home. He's barefoot and wearing the t-shirt as a head scarf.
Colindres points both guns at police from the front steps, then turns and runs down the sidewalk.
An officer shoots and fatally wounds him.
Two guns fall from his hands as Colindres hits the pavement. Police find him carrying a third firearm.
The officers and EMS responders render aid before Colindres is taken to Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen.
He was pronounced dead at 7:13 p.m., less than 45 minutes from the time of the initial call, said Platkin.
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The Attorney General's Office posted all of the videos -- from four police body cams and four home security systems -- along with the 911 call:
VIDEO: Footage Related to Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting in West New York on June 3, 2022 (NJ Attorney General's Office)
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Hudson County View assembled a seamless compilation (1:40) from the videos:
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Both state law and his own guidelines require Platkin's office to investigate any and all 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."
This is done no matter what the circumstances are.
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is conducted “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas.
Once the investigation by the attorneygeneral's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) was completed, the results were presented to the grand jury “in a neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency.”
The panel of civilians reviewed a host of evidence -- including interviews of witnesses, photographs, review of body-worn camera and area surveillance footage and autopsy results from a medical examiner -- to determine whether or not there was cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
The grand jurors last week issued a "no bill" – meaning everything was found to be above board, Platkin said.
“An officer may use deadly force in New Jersey when the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm,” the attorney general noted.
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