For Immediate Release: May 16, 2023
Office of the Attorney General
– Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General
Office of Public Integrity and Accountability
– Thomas J. Eicher, Executive Director
For Further Information:
Media Inquiries-
Dan Prochilo
OAGpress@njoag.gov
NEWARK — The Attorney General’s Office today identified the decedent and the officers involved in the fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on May 3, 2023 in Newark, N.J. The civilian who died during the encounter has been identified as Everett Rand, 29, of Newark.
According to the preliminary investigation, on May 3 at approximately 8:34 p.m. police responded to a 9-1-1 call that individuals had been shot inside a residence on Johnson Avenue in Newark. When police entered the residence, they found one man deceased from a gunshot wound and an 8-year-old boy who had been struck by gunfire. The child was transported to University Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 9:14 p.m.
Police encountered an adult male with a firearm running away from the residence where the two individuals had been shot. Several police officers from the Newark Police Department engaged in a foot pursuit, and Officer Steven Ferreira and Officer Ryan Castro fired their weapons during the encounter, fatally wounding Mr. Rand.
A 2019 law, P.L. 2019, c. 1, requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct 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. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time. The investigation into the homicide at the Johnson Avenue residence is being conducted by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
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