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Witnesses insist that Thelonious “RaRa” McKnight, 25, was gunned down in cold blood last Wednesday night after detectives chased him down an alley in a mixed-use neighborhood of multi-family homes and businesses near the Passaic River
New Jersey's top law enforcer, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck, said that a 9mm handgun was found near McKnight's body.
Investigators had made an arrest there hours earlier and were looking for another suspect when they returned to the neighborhood, Bruck confirmed on Tuesday.
"During the encounter, one police officer fired his service weapon, fatally wounding Mr. McKnight," the attorney general said.
Among the videos shared on social media include one apparently recorded by one of McKnight's friends that shows plainclothes detectives pursuing him down the alley."Don't shoot!" someone yells. "Stop!" shouts another.
Then gunshots are heard.
Officers conducted CPR on a lifeless McKnight, who was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
Additional units were summoned to deal with a large crowd. Passaic County sheriff's officers and Clifton police also responded to assist.
Mayor Andre Sayegh initially claimed that McKnight -- who had a previous history of firearms-related offenses -- pulled a gun on his pursuers, one of whom opened fire. Bruck didn't corroborate that, however, in either of two releases he issued, including one Tuesday morning.
Both state law and his own guidelines require the attorney general 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."
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner."
Once the investigation is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury -- ordinarily consisting of 16 to 23 citizens -- that determines whether or not there's cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
McKnight will be cremated privately, the family said.
Viewing is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8 at the John B. Houston Funeral Home, 236 Ellison Street in Paterson: (973) 881-8200.
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