Video of NJ state trooper shooting, killing man on Garden State Parkway released

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The public is getting its first look at video of a deadly encounter in which a New Jersey state trooper shot and killed a black man last month on the Garden State Parkway. The video shows the man and the trooper in a confrontation outside the police car.

The video shows 28-year-old Maurice Gordon of Poughkeepsie, New York sitting in the back of Sgt. Randall Wetzel's cruiser early on the morning of May 23. Gordon's car had broken down after he was stopped for speeding on the Garden State Parkway in Bass River. 

Wetzel is heard in the redacted audio offering Gordon a mask.

Gordon, who is black, then steps out of the car and gets into a confrontation with Wetzel, who is white, during which Wetzel pepper sprays Gordon and then shoots him six times.

The recordings were released in accordance with the state's use-of-force directives. 

Gov. Murphy at his daily briefing said he had confidence that the attorney general would conduct an independent review. 

"I cannot dictate the process and outcome of the criminal investigation," he said.

Doing that, Murphy said, would undermine the independence of the ongoing investigation. 

Murphy said the matter would be presented to a grand jury.