Pursuant to New Jersey Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive No. 2006-5 Supplemental, the following will serve as the Public Statement on the Results of Investigations Not Resulting in Prosecution.
On the morning of January 14, 2015, the Old Bridge Police Department responded to a 911 call from the residence at 40 Cedar Grove Place, Old Bridge, requesting medical assistance for an individual with a knife who had reportedly cut his wrists. During the course of this response, an Old Bridge Police Officer discharged his duty weapon one time resulting in the death of Talbot Schroeder.
Old Bridge Police immediately contacted the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, which took control of the investigation and notified the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in accordance with state guidelines. The specific findings of that investigation concerning the factual circumstances of the incident include the following:
On January 14, 2015, at 05:59 hrs, Old Bridge Police Department received a 911 call from an individual at 40 Cedar Grove Place, requesting an ambulance for a resident, later identified as Talbot Schroeder, 75, who had reportedly attempted suicide by cutting his wrists.
During the call, dispatchers could hear yelling and screaming in the background, references to a knife, and an additional report that the subject had just stabbed himself in the stomach. Dispatch shared this information with responding officers, specifically advising them that the subject was in possession of a knife and actively injuring himself.
Two Old Bridge Police Officers arrived at 40 Cedar Grove Place at the same time, with Officer #1 entering the residence while Officer #2 retrieved a first aid kit. Officer #1 was directed to a downstairs room where he encountered Talbot Schroeder who was seated on the floor several feet away with a knife in his right hand. Officer #1 ordered Schroeder to drop the knife, to which he replied, “No”, and made a motion as if to throw the knife in Officer #1’s direction. Officer #1 retreated to the stairwell for cover while the subject stood and began walking toward the officer, brandishing the knife at head level. Officer #1 gave repeated orders to drop the knife. Having no avenue of retreat at this point, Officer #1 fired his duty weapon one time, striking Schroeder in the chest. Talbot Schroeder was pronounced dead on scene at 06:27 hrs.
Officer #2 entered the residence and immediately heard Officer #1’s vocal commands to drop the knife. Moving toward the sound of Officer #1’s voice, he observed Officer #1 at the bottom of the stairs, against the wall with his weapon drawn. From his vantage point in the foyer, he could not see Talbot Schroeder. Before Officer #2 could advance further Officer #1 fired one shot. Officer #2 immediately notified police headquarters of the shot fired and requested first aid.
The investigation further determined that prior to the original 911 call, Talbot Schroeder had drawn a knife and had attempted to strike his wife which resulted in lacerations to her hand and face.
She was able to flee upstairs and awaken her son who then, upon going downstairs, discovered his father on the floor, actively bleeding from lacerations to both his wrists. Talbot Schroeder refused to relinquish the knife to his son and reportedly pointed it in his direction when he tried to take it from him. It was during this exchange that 911 had been called.
As is customary in all police-involved shooting investigations, Officer #1’s training records were reviewed and it was determined that he had received and successfully completed all annual mandatory firearms and Use of Force training prior to this incident.
Upon completion of this investigation, the matter was reviewed by Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey, as well as the appropriate authority within the NJ Attorney General’s Office.
Specific Findings of the Investigation Concerning the Lawfulness of the Police Use of Force Under the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice
The investigation concerning the use of deadly force in this matter determined that the level of force utilized was justifiable under N.J.S.A. 2C: 3-4, specifically by Talbot Schroeder repeatedly ignoring commands to drop his weapon, a knife of sufficient size to cause serious bodily injury or death; advancing upon Officer #1 with the weapon brandished in such a way as to infer intent to harm; and having already exhibited a willingness and propensity for utilizing that knife in the commission of his own self-injury, resulted in Officer #1, with no option for retreat, although not required under the law, having a reasonable belief that in the absence of such level of force, he was in jeopardy of incurring serious bodily injury or death.
Furthermore, all portions of the Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Directive regarding uniform statewide procedures and best practices for conducting police use of force investigations that were in effect during the course of this investigation were complied with.