**UPDATED INFORMATION INCLUDING IDENTITIES OF DECEDENT AND OFFICER**
For Immediate Release: January 12, 2022
Office of The Attorney General
– Andrew J. Bruck, Acting Attorney General
Office of Public Integrity and Accountability
– Thomas J. Eicher, Executive Director
For Further Information:
Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
OAGpress@njoag.gov
Hillsborough, N.J. – The Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation of a fatal police-involved shooting that occurred on Jan. 9, 2022 in Hillsborough, N.J. One male civilian sustained fatal injuries.
The decedent has been identified as Joshua Mathis 19, of Hillsborough, N.J.
According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 6:12 p.m. on Jan. 9, officers of the Hillsborough Police Department responded to a 911 call reporting a man with a gun at an apartment on Corporal Langon Way. When officers arrived, they encountered Mr. Mathis inside the apartment. Mr. Mathis was holding a large knife. Mr. Mathis advanced toward the officers with the knife. One officer fired his service weapon, striking Mr. Mathis. Police and emergency medical personnel rendered first aid, and Mr. Mathis was pronounced deceased at the scene. The officer who discharged his weapon has been identified as Officer Christopher Michaels of the Hillsborough Police Department.
This investigation is being conducted pursuant to Attorney General Directive 2019-4, which implements the statutory requirement that the Attorney General’s Office conduct the investigation of any 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, and which establishes clear standards and procedures for conducting such investigations.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
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