A Millville police officer was justified in the fatal shooting of a man in 2018, Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae announced Tuesday.
Edward Gandy Jr., 47, was shot Jan. 22, 2018, at the intersection of High and McNeal streets, after calling 911 claiming he had a loaded handgun and was feeling homicidal.
About 20 minutes later, he would be shot by an officer who had several interactions with him.
It was apparently the culmination of a months-long wish to die by police, the investigation by Webb-McRae’s office found.
Webb-McRae said the evidence showed the case did not need to be presented to a grand jury. A separate investigation by the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that finding.
The first interaction seemed to come Nov. 15, 2017, when police were called to the Walgreens for a disorderly person.
Gandy warned police at the time that he would attempt “suicide by cop” in the future and that all he needed to do was have a knife, and police would shoot him.
He was hospitalized for a mental evaluation and released the next day.
Ten days later, Gandy was armed with a knife when police were called to High and Mulberry streets for a suicidal man.
Despite a standoff during which he asked officers to kill him, Gandy was eventually taken to the Crisis Unit at Inspira Hospital in Bridgeton. He was again released.
He was back in the hospital Nov. 25. 2017, after another incident at the Walgreens.
Gandy told hospital staff that he wanted to die.
“I swear to God, I’m not messing,” he was quoted as saying. “I want bullets in my chest and bullets in my heart.”
Police told hospital staff that they had approximately eight encounters with Gandy in a two-week period.
He told officers that he was going to walk through traffic or assault an officer so he “could be shot to death.”
Gandy was again released from the hospital with instructions to seek follow-up care at the Cumberland County Guidance Center.
Less than two weeks before the shooting, Gandy held police at bay for two hours wielding a knife at the local Wawa, records show.
Friends, family and even a handwritten note found at Gandy’s home that he is believed to have written indicated he wished police had killed him then.
Three officers responded to the Jan. 22, 2018, scene where Gandy would die. None of their names has been released.
Almost immediately after the first two officers got out of their car, Gandy began walking toward them at a fast pace with his hands behind his back, according to the report.
He ignored Officer No. 1’s to stop and show them his hands.
Officer No. 2 briefly left the cover of the patrol vehicle, pointing his weapon at Gandy as he walked toward him, the report found. But Officer No. 1 told No. 2 to take cover.
As he got to the front of the vehicle, Gandy extended both hands and — according to all three officers — appeared to be holding a gun.
It was later determined to be his cell phone.
Video footage from the car’s camera showed that Gandy pointed the object toward the officers in such a way as to make it look like a gun, the investigation found.
All three officers took cover.
When Officer No. 1 ducked, he lost site of Gandy and said he believed Gandy was going to shoot Officer No. 2.
As Gandy continued to advance toward the officers, Officer No. 1 fired his rifle three times.
The officer then checked on Gandy and radioed that shots and been fired and called for EMS, who had been staging in the area. They arrived within 30 seconds, Webb-McRae said.
