A Ventnor man fatally shot by police in October, told a negotiator he wanted to die, and that if he couldn’t do it, “you guys will have to do it.”
John Fetter III’s blood-alcohol content was more than 2½ times the legal limit that night, according to information released as part of an investigation by the Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team that found officers were justified in fatally shooting him outside the North Burghley Avenue home he shared with his parents.
As a result, Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig found that it was not necessary to present the case to a grand jury.
https://breakingac.com/ags-shooting-response-team-investigating-fatal-shooting/
Fetter, 49, following a standoff Oct. 4, 2016, when he exited his parents’ home and pointed a gun at police after refusing orders to drop the gun, according to the report.
An autopsy revealed a total of 10 gunshot wounds to Fetter’s body: One penetrated his chest and did substantial damage to his lungs and heart. The remaining shots were to his extremities and buttocks and came from various angles. Toxicology results showed that Fetter’s blood-alcohol content was 0.258 percent.
The investigation included witness interviews, forensic analysis of the scene, an autopsy and other evidence.
Fetter was fatally shot by members of the Atlantic County Emergency Response Team and other local police officers at about 7:40 p.m. outside the residence where he lived with his parents in the 700 block of North Burghley Avenue in Ventnor, according to the findings.
The report reads as follows:
Fetter’s mother called 911 at 6:22 p.m., saying Fetter was drunk, fighting with his father and armed with a long gun. When two officers from the Ventnor Police Department arrived at the two-story house, Fetter’s father, who was outside, reported that Fetter, who was still inside with his mother, was armed with a shotgun and had fired two shots inside the house.
As Fetter’s mother exited, another shotgun blast was heard inside the house and the mother fell down the front porch steps. Fetter’s father picked up Fetter’s mother while an officer provided cover. The parents were removed from danger.
The two Ventnor officers positioned their SUVs in front of Fetter’s house in the street, and an officer from the Longport Police Department arrived to assist. Fetter’s father was handcuffed and removed farther down the street because he continued to approach the SUVs despite orders to stay back.
The officers repeatedly called out to Fetter, telling him to come out unarmed. However, at about 6:45 p.m., Fetter fired his shotgun out of an upstairs window toward the officers.
One officer returned fire, firing two rounds from a rifle through the window. Fetter shouted that he wanted to talk to a specific officer from the Ventnor police who had acted as a mediator during previous domestic violence incidents involving Fetter’s family.
That officer arrived and established phone communication with Fetter, but he was not able to convince Fetter to surrender peacefully. Fetter expressed that he wanted to die and knew the SWAT team was coming. He said that if he could not “do it” then “you guys will have to do it.”
Members of the Atlantic County Emergency Response Team arrived with a Bearcat armored truck. As the SWAT team was positioning the Bearcat near the SUVs so team members could safely exit the vehicle, Fetter pointed a gun out of the living room window of the home.
Witness statements differed as to whether Fetter fired the gun. Two officers believed he did. A third officer, the one who previously fired at Fetter, reported that he heard one of the officers say “gun.” That third officer fired two rounds from his rifle at Fetter.
“You missed me,” Fetter reportedly yelled.
The SWAT members exited the Bearcat, and one officer from the SWAT team indicated that he fired a shot at Fetter when Fetter again appeared at a window and pointed a gun toward him.
Fetter then came out of the front door, holding a black .22-caliber handgun, pointed down in front of his body.
“Drop the gun,” officers yelled. But Fetter instead raised the handgun and pointed it at officers.
Seven officers fired at Fetter, stopping after he fell to the ground.
Back-up SWAT officers soon arrived, approached Fetter, rendered first aid, and secured the house. Fetter was pronounced dead at the scene once EMS personnel arrived and took over the first aid efforts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO3NPQfCZp8
In New Jersey, all investigations into police deadly force incidents are governed by an Attorney General directive – issued in 2006 and strengthened in 2015 – which establishes strict procedures for conducting these investigations. When a state- or county-level officer uses deadly force, the case is investigated by the Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team, made up of deputy attorneys general and detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice, as well as detectives of the State Police Homicide Unit, all of whom operate independently of their usual chain of command and report directly to the Director of the Division of Criminal Justice or a designee.
