PINE BROOK — The Attorney General’s Office today released video from officers’ body-worn cameras related to a deadly police-involved shooting at a Pine Brook, N.J., motel on Saturday, December 31, 2022.

James Allandale, 61, formerly known as James Allan, of Denville, N.J., sustained fatal injuries in the incident at the motel on Route 46 on New Year’s Eve.

According to the preliminary information, members of the Morris County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (“SERT”) were at the motel to assist Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office detectives with taking Mr. Allandale into custody, based on an arrest warrant issued for Mr. Allandale charging him with attempted murder and other related charges in connection with an incident on December 27, 2022 in Elmwood Park.

Detectives ascertained that Mr. Allandale was inside a particular room and members of the Morris County SERT made entry at approximately 7:18 p.m., whereupon Mr. Allandale exchanged gunfire with Sgt. Fred Jackson of the Denville Police Department and Morristown Police Sgt. James Krauss, who are members of the Morris County SERT.

A paramedic attached to the SERT was on scene to provide advanced life support, but Mr. Allandale was pronounced deceased at approximately 7:27 p.m.

Authorities recovered a firearm near the decedent. The two officers were transported to an area hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and were released.

The shooting is 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 designed to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters.

The recordings are posted online: Click here to view the 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.

Further information about how fatal police encounters are investigated in New Jersey under the Independent Prosecutor Directive is posted on the Attorney General’s website at
https://www.njoag.gov/independent-prosecutor/

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