Note: Members of the press can email the Communications Office to obtain a link to download the recordings.

West New York, N.J – The Attorney General’s Office today released video footage from four body-worn cameras, four surveillance cameras, and a 911 call related to a fatal police-involved shooting that occurred on June 3, 2022, in West New York, N.J. The decedent has been identified as Kevin Colindres, 32, of West New York.

The fatal shooting remains under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA). The recordings are being released pursuant to policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 that are designed to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters. Investigators met today with the family of Mr. Colindres to provide them an opportunity to review the videos before release.

According to the preliminary investigation, uniformed officers of the West New York Police Department responded to a residence on 59th Street in West New York, N.J. at approximately 6:30 p.m. in response to a 911 call involving a domestic dispute. During the initial encounter, Mr. Colindres fired a weapon at the officers while standing in the vestibule of the home. One officer discharged his weapon. One officer sustained a non-fatal injury during this initial encounter with Mr. Colindres. Officers took cover and maintained the scene.

Approximately fifteen minutes after the initial encounter Mr. Colindres emerged from a neighboring door and ran down the sidewalk, visibly armed with two firearms. An officer discharged his firearm, fatally wounding Colindres. Officers and emergency medical personnel rendered first aid to Mr. Colindres. Two firearms were recovered near Colindres and one additional firearm was recovered on his person. Mr. Colindres was pronounced deceased at Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center at 7:13 p.m.

The recordings are posted online: https://njoag.box.com/s/aaiwlg2hqivya7y5fdd17cot4oakzbjq

The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.

This investigation is being conducted pursuant to a state law enacted in January 2019 (P.L. 2019, c.1), which requires that the Attorney General’s Office conduct all investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. Separately, the Independent Prosecutor Directive, which was issued in December 2019, outlines a 10-step process for conducting these investigations. The Directive establishes clear procedures governing such investigations to ensure that they are conducted in a full, impartial and transparent manner. Under both state law and the Directive, when the entire investigation is complete, the case will be presented to a grand jury, typically consisting of 16 to 23 citizens, to make the ultimate decision regarding whether criminal charges will be filed.

A copy of the Directive is available at this link:
https://www.nj.gov/oag/excellence/docs/2019-4_Independent_Prosecutor_Directive.pdf,

and a summary of that 10-step process is available at this link:
https://www.nj.gov/oag/excellence/docs/The-Independent-Prosecutor-Directive.pdf

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