ASBURY PARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A New Jersey police officer who shot and killed a man as he tried to stab another officer with a pair of scissors in 2019 will not face charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.
A grand jury voted not to file criminal charges against Asbury Park Police Officer James Crawford, who fatally shot James Manzo, 27, of Asbury Park, on July 23, 2019, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said in a press release.
Crawford and his fellow officers responded to Manzo’s home on 7th Avenue, near Webb Street, around 10:20 p.m. that day after their department received a report that Manzo was “behaving erratically” and had threatened to “commit violence” against someone else, the release said.
The officers walked into the building and tried to talk to Manzo, but were unable to “obtain information from him,” according to the release.
When one of the officers tried to walk into Manzo’s room, Manzo “immediately” tried to stab the officer with a pair of scissors, the release said.
That’s when Crawford fired his gun and shot Manzo, according to the release. Manzo was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
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