Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer has announced the release of video footage from multiple body worn cameras, as well as 911 audio recordings, in connection with a police officer involved, non-fatal shooting of Jalial Whitted, 37, of Pleasantville, that occurred in Pleasantville, Atlantic County, on May 24, 2022. The Office of the Attorney General requested that the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office undertake the independent investigation of the shooting.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that on May 24, 2022, Pleasantville Police received a 911 call at approximately 9:35 a.m. indicating that an individual had discharged a gun at the Dollar General store located on South New Road in Pleasantville. At approximately 9:37 a.m., a Pleasantville Police Officer responded to the Dollar General and discovered Mr. Whitted inside the store – with a handgun protruding from his right pocket. As additional officers arrived, Mr. Whitted walked toward the officers and refused to follow directions to stop and drop to the ground, at which time Mr. Whitted said to the officers “shoot me.” The officers attempted to de-escalate the situation by backing away and allowing Mr. Whitted to exit the store and stand on the front sidewalk. Mr. Whitted then reached for and placed his hand on the handgun in his right pocket, at which time five police officers discharged their duty firearms at him. The officers indicated that they fired to protect the lives of the nearby public, their own lives, and the lives of their fellow officers.
The video footage from the body worn cameras is being released pursuant to the policies established by the Office of the Attorney General designed to promote fair, impartial, and transparent investigations of police officer involved shootings. Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office met with Mr. Whitted’s mother and showed her the recordings prior to the issuance of this press release.
The recordings are posted online and may be viewed here:
The 911 calls are posted online and may be heard here:
This investigation remains active and ongoing, no further information will be 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 direct all investigations of officer involved shootings. 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.
A copy of the Directive is available at this link:
https://www.nj.gov/oag/excellence/docs/2019-4_Independent_Prosecutor_Directive.pdf
A summary of that 10-step process is available at this link:
https://www.nj.gov/oag/excellence/docs/The-Independent-Prosecutor-Directive.pdf