Listen to the 911 recording and view the body camera footage here. Warning: Graphic footage.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office released body camera footage of a man who was shot and killed by a police officer after calling 911 and reporting that intruders were outside his home in Mantua, New Jersey.
Investigators said two Mantua Township Police officers arrived at the home of Charles Sharp III, 49, on Elm Avenue around 1:35 a.m. on Sept. 14. The officers were responding to a 911 call from Sharp who reported that two men and a woman were trespassing on his property, including a person armed with a gun.
“One guy was in my shed. In my shed door,” Sharp tells the dispatcher in the five-minute call released by the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday. “I came around to go outside to confront them. And there was a guy in my truck.”
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Sharp tells the dispatcher he tried to scare the intruders off by throwing a quarter stick of dynamite at them. He also claimed that he had a handgun that was passed down to him by his grandfather.
“My grandfather willed me a .45. I don’t know what I’m allowed to do about that,” Sharp tells the dispatcher. “So I threw a couple quarter sticks at them.”
As the recording continues, the sound of a person yelling, “put the gun down” is heard.
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The dispatcher then asks Sharp, “Are you talking to my officers?”
Moments later the sounds of gunshots are heard.
Body camera footage shows the officers arriving at Sharp’s home and spotting him outside. One of the officers then pulls out his weapon and fires multiple shots at Sharp, shooting him at least once. Investigators said a detailed replica of a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun was then found near Sharp.
The officers rendered first aid before Sharp was rushed to Jefferson Washington Township Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:49 a.m., the attorney general’s office said.
Neighbor Grace Vulpio told NBC10 Sharp was a military veteran who was well-liked in the neighborhood.
"He was a nice guy," she said. "He just moved in, just got a new dog, so that's how we kind of talked because the dogs were together."
The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is currently investigating the shooting. The Attorney General’s Office also released the 911 recording and body camera footage of the shooting in response to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. Investigators also met Wednesday with Sharp’s family and their attorney to review the recordings.
The Attorney General’s Office said it will continue to investigate the incident and the case will be presented to a grand jury upon its completion. The grand jury will then decide if criminal charges will be filed.
