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

Long Branch, N.J. – The Attorney General’s Office today released video footage from two body worn cameras, a mobile video recorder in a police vehicle, and a residential camera related to a fatal police shooting that occurred on November 6, 2021, in Long Branch, N.J.  The decedent has been identified as Mark D. Walker, II, 34, of Woodbridge, Va.

The fatal shooting remains under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA). The recordings are being released in response to an OPRA request and 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 Mr. Walker’s family to review the recordings.

According to the preliminary investigation, on Nov. 5 at approximately 5:10 p.m., members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office were attempting to execute a residential search warrant at 274 Chelsea Avenue, Apartment 1, in Long Branch. As county detectives were executing the warrant, Mr. Walker shot one of the detectives in the lower leg. The detectives repositioned outside of the building, and Mr. Walker barricaded himself inside with an infant child. Members of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team were deployed to the scene.

Around 2:00 a.m. on Nov. 6, a fire erupted in the apartment, and Mr. Walker fled the building, holding the infant in his arms. Mr. Walker fired several rounds from a handgun at officers, striking a BearCat armored personnel vehicle parked in the roadway. Three members of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team returned fire, hitting Mr. Walker, who was later pronounced dead at the scene. The infant was not injured.

The officers who fired at Mr. Walker were previously identified as Patrolman Eric Voorand of the Manalapan Township Police Department, Patrolman Daniel Murphy of the Howell Township Police Department, and Patrolman Omar Akel of the Middletown Township Police Department. The county detective who was shot in the leg was taken to a local hospital and discharged later in the evening.

The recordings are posted online: Click here for recordings.

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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