OCEAN COUNTY PROSECUTOR RELEASES FINDINGS OF THE AUGUST 20, 2017, FATAL BRICK TOWNSHIP POLICE OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING
In compliance with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Directive 2006-5 (July 28, 2015) on the uniform statewide procedures and best practices for conducting police officer use-of-force investigations, this public statement is being issued regarding the August 20, 2017 Brick Township Police Officer involved shooting of Keshawn Wilson.
The Office of the Attorney General agrees with Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato that the undisputed facts of this case establish that the use of deadly force by the police officers was legally justified. The Attorney General also agrees that there are no material facts in dispute with regard to the officers’ use of force. As a result and at the direction of the Attorney General, the Ocean County Prosecutor will not present the matter for a Grand Jury investigation.
The facts regarding the use of force are as follows: On August 20, 2017, at about 5:30 a.m., the Brick Township Police Department received numerous 911 calls for an on-going assault at 141 Meridian Drive. During one of those calls, the caller notified the 911 operator that the subject had a gun and additional household members had barricaded themselves in the back bedroom of the residence. One resident was able to get out of the house by jumping out the side bedroom window and running across the street for help.
The Brick Police Department then dispatched uniformed Patrol Officers Anthony Chadwick, Richard Zimmerer, and Ryan Osborn to 141 Meridian Drive. Sergeant Donald Smith heard the report of a gun and responded in uniform. Upon arrival, the Sergeant and the three Patrolmen stacked tightly behind a police bullet-proof shield and approached the residence from the side driveway.
It was there that they encountered the man matching the description provided in the 911 call. He was standing at the side door with a black handgun. After the Officers announced themselves as police and commanded him to drop the gun, Keshawn Wilson fired at the officers. The Officers returned fire and struck him causing him to fall on the landing outside the residence. Once gunfire had ceased, Sgt. Smith called for the Brick Police Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) as he was unsure if there were any additional threats or if anyone else had a weapon inside in the house. The four officers maintained the perimeter of the house until the SERT arrived and secured scene. SERT entered the house and escorted the family members out. Two household members were transported to Ocean Medical Center Hospital (Brick, NJ) for injuries relating to Wilson assaulting them.
Dr. Joyce from the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office pronounced Wilson dead on scene at 8:23 a.m.. On August 21, 2017, Dr. Ragasa of the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted a post mortem examination and determined the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death to be homicide.
Ocean County Sheriff’s Criminalistics Unit (OCSD) photographed and retrieved the handgun from Wilson’s right hand. It was examined and determined to be a black Rohm .38 Special Revolver. Also examined was the ammunition within the revolver. It contained one .38 Special caliber discharged shell and four .38 Special full metal jacketed bullet cartridges within the cylinder. OCSD recovered one .38 caliber discharged projectile from the scene that was consistent with being fired from the Rohm Revolver. The four bullet cartridges in the cylinder exhibited “light hit” firing pin impressions on the primer that were consistent with the Rohm Revolver. OCSD also discovered an item wedged under the firing pin of the revolver. Examination revealed that it was a clear gelatin capsule used to contain medication.
OCSD found medication in Wilson’s pocket that was contained in a similar clear gelatin capsule. OCSD indicated that the “light hits” on the primer of the bullet cartridges were caused by the gelatin capsule reducing the impact between the firing pin and the primer on the four bullet cartridges. The firing pin impacts or “light hits” were not sufficient to discharge those four remaining bullets despite the trigger being fired while each of the four cartridges were in the chamber.
A neighbor who viewed the events corroborated the statements given by the officers. She observed a thin man with a goatee standing in the side doorway of 141
Meridian Drive firing a handgun toward police. She reported that the man’s head popped outside the door and she heard the police officers yelling several times “Drop the gun! Drop the Gun!” and the man was holding the gun chest high with his body turned sideways pointing the gun towards the police.
The Office of the Attorney General and Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato are satisfied that the undisputed facts establish that the Brick Township police officers used the appropriate force necessary to protect their lives and that they were legally justified in doing so. This investigation was conducted consistent with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Directive 2006-5 (July 28, 2015) regarding the uniform statewide procedures and best practices for conducting police officer use- of-force investigations.