VENTNOR, N.J. – The Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation of a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on Thursday, August 6, in Ventnor, N.J.  One male civilian sustained fatal injuries, and authorities are still working to confirm his identity.

According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 4:16 p.m., Ventnor and Atlantic City Police Department officers responded to a 911 call concerning a man behaving erratically in the vicinity of Wellington Avenue and West End Avenue. When the responding officers encountered the man, he was walking in and out of a marshy area along the roadway, while holding a broken glass bottle in his hand. The officers attempted to engage the man and offer him assistance, but he refused to comply with their commands, including repeated requests for him to drop the bottle. Instead, he continued to walk back and forth on the roadway, where officers had stopped traffic for safety reasons.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., the man advanced on officers with the broken bottle in his hand and multiple officers fired their weapons, fatally wounding him.  He was rushed by a waiting ambulance to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City Campus, where he was pronounced deceased at approximately 6:00 p.m.

The investigation is being conducted by the Attorney General’s Office, pursuant to a law enacted in January 2019, P.L.2019, c.1, which requires that the Attorney General’s Office 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. The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.

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