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Merrill Rambarose, 49, was pronounced dead at the scene after two officers opened fire on Judson Street at the Margate co-op complex just off Route 1 and the Menlo Park Mall at 4:41 p.m. April 12, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
"A short-handled ax was recovered near Mr. Rambarose," the attorney general said
Police had been called there a little under an hour earlier.
There they "encountered Mr. Rambarose in a parking lot of the residential area," Platkin said.
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 attorney general's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury.
The grand jury reviews a host of evidence -- including witness interviews, body and dashcam video, and forensic and autopsy results -- to determine whether or not there was cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
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