SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — The New Jersey acting attorney general has released the 911 audio and police bodycam footage of a police-involved shooting that killed a man in Manuta last month.
Charles Sharp called 911 on Sept. 14 to report two or three people trespassing on his property shortly after 1:30 a.m. He told dispatchers that at least one of them was armed, and he said he was throwing quarter sticks of dynamite at them to scare them away.
“I threw a firecracker to get them to go, but they keep coming back and looking through the fence,” the 49-year-old said on the call.
He also told the dispatcher that one of the intruders was inside his truck. Sharp had a .45 caliber handgun but said he wasn’t sure what to do.
“I went back into the house — like I said, my grandfather willed me a .45. I don’t know what I’m allowed to do with or without that,” he said.
Related
Police arrived while Sharp was still on the phone. When one responding officer said he saw Sharp with a gun, he opened fire almost immediately after exiting his car.
Based on the bodycam video, the officer fired at least a dozen times.
“Is that the homeowner?” one officer asked.
“I don’t know. The guy came out and pointed a gun,” replied another officer.
The state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is still investigating the shooting.
The public can watch bodycam footage of the shooting on the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General’s page. Warning to viewers: The material is graphic and violent in nature.