Attorney General’s Office Releases Identities of the Decedent and Officers Involved in Shooting on May 27, 2024

TRENTON — The Attorney General’s Office today identified the decedent and officers from a fatal officer-involved shooting on May 27, 2024, in Keansburg, New Jersey. The civilian who died from injuries sustained during the encounter has been identified as Willem Roman, 46, of Keansburg, in Monmouth County.

According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 1:07 p.m., officers from the Keansburg Police Department were dispatched to a residence on Seabreeze Way for a welfare check. Officers entered the residence and encountered a man later identified as Mr. Roman, who possessed numerous weapons and a running chainsaw. As Mr. Roman approached officers with the running chainsaw, Patrolman John Swartz deployed a conductive energy device (a taser) and Patrolman Tyler Manges fired his service weapon, striking Mr. Roman. Officers and emergency medical personnel rendered medical aid to Mr. Roman, who was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was initially listed in critical but stable condition. Mr. Roman was pronounced deceased on June 14, 2024.

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

A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), 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.

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