A violent domestic incident that involved a man and his sister inside a third-floor apartment of an Orange New Jersey senior living building ended with the woman suffering multiple stab wounds and the suspect losing his life at the duties of a police officer on Saturday afternoon.
The New Jersey State Attorney General office has now taken over the investigation into what prompted the officer to fire his weapon multiple times at the 46-year-old man who investigators are calling a civilian at this time.
According to a preliminary investigation, the Orange Police Department were dispatched to The Oakwood Towers located at 400 Oakwood Avenue to investigate reports of an assault in progress. Witnesses say a man began to brutally attack a woman who was officially identified as his sister with a knife; stabbing her multiple times inside the apartment shortly before 3 p.m.
Witnesses say the man -identified by the NJ Attorney General's office as **Mr. Jamahl Smith, 46** allegedly fled the apartment with the knife in his possession but quickly noticed officers in the hallway who were responding to the call for help.
The New Jersey Attorney General's Office said during the encounter, one of the officers fired at Mr. Smith, fatally wounding him.
EMS rushed Smith to University Hospital in Newark where Mr. Smith was pronounced dead just after 5 p.m.
Senior witnesses observed EMS bring Mr. Smith's sister out of the building bleeding heavily from her shoulder and stomach. The extent of her injuries could not immediately be confirmed, but authorities have not reported a fatality in her involvement in the situation.
The NJ State Attorney General's Office said this investigation is being conducted pursuant to a law enacted in January 2019 which requires that their 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.