A member of the Clark Police Department shot and injured a knife-wielding man Tuesday evening, leading to the man’s arrest, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Wednesday.
The person who was shot has been identified as Emmanuel Goda, 36, of Clark.
Based on the preliminary investigation, which remains ongoing, at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday police received reports that a male later identified as Goda was threatening local residents, lunging at passing vehicles with a knife, and otherwise acting erratically in the area of Lake and Cellar avenues in Clark.
Two arriving Clark police officers ordered Goda to stop what he was doing and drop his weapon multiple times, but he instead advanced toward one of them. As Goda continued to advance, one of the officers fired a single shot from his service weapon, striking Goda in the torso.
Goda was transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
Two police officers were also taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. No civilians or other officers were injured.
Goda since has been charged with first-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted aggravated assault, and two related weapons offenses, with bail set at $600,000 by state Superior Court Judge William Daniel.
The Prosecutor’s Office’s Shooting Response Team is continuing to investigate this incident with assistance from the Union County Sheriff’s Office Identification Unit and the Union County Police Department Ballistics Unit, and anyone with information is being urged to contact Prosecutor’s Office Detective Ryan Kirsh at 908-527-4633.
The investigation is being conducted in strict accordance with New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Directive 2006-5 and the July 28, 2015 supplemental directive, which govern all investigations into use of deadly force by law enforcement.