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On Thursday, July 28, John Gibson, of Lawnside, also was charged with operating a vehicle recklessly -- a fire truck -- in the deaths of 68-year-old John Bishop and 75-year-old Marie Endicott, they said.
Gibson also was charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, according to Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay.
On Jan. 19, officers responded to a motor vehicle crash that occurred at 9:52 a.m., involving a Lawnside Borough Fire Department fire truck and a Nissan Sentra at the intersection of Warwick Road and the White Horse Pike in Magnolia.
Both occupants of the Nissan Sentra sustained serious injuries. They both succumbed to those injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene, MacAulay said.
An investigation determined Gibson, who was operating the fire truck on behalf of the Lawnside Borough Fire Department at the time of the crash, drove the truck into the opposing lane of travel, against the designated flow of traffic and around other vehicles that were stopped at the red light directly in front of the fire truck in the designated lane of travel, to enter the intersection, the prosecutor said.
Gibson then went through the red light at the intersection without stopping and crashed into the Nissan Sentra which was being driven by Bishop, with Endicott as the front seat passenger, MacAulay said.
At the time of the crash, Lawnside officials said that the fire truck was responding to a cardiac emergency.
In addition to serving as a firefighter, Gibson, a 2017 graduate of the Camden County College Police Academy, was sworn in as a Class II officer with the Lawnside Police Department in November 2020, according to earlier news reports.
Gibson was charged on a warrant and released with conditions after appearing before the court.
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