Absecon man shot outside Dollar General indicted on weapons charges

An Absecon man shot outside the city’s Dollar General during a standoff with police in May has been indicted on weapons charges.

Jalial Whitted, 38, allegedly fired a gun inside the store May 24, after brandishing it at those inside, who fled.

“Shots have been fired! The guy has a gun in my store,” the store’s manager said in a 911 call placed that day.

Police responded and the incident ended with Whitted wounded by police gunfire.

Video from police body cameras and audio of two 911 calls were released last month as part of the investigation into the police-involved shooting by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

While that agency looks into the five officers who discharged their weapons that day, Whitted’s case continues through the Atlantic County courts.

A grand jury indicted him Wednesday on second-degree charges of unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and certain person not to possess a firearm.

Whitted was hospitalized after the incident, undergoing surgery along with mental health evaluations. The charges against him were dropped while he was hospitalized.

Upon his release from the hospital in June, the charges against him were re-instated, and he has remained in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.

Whitted, who his mother says has been treated for schizophrenia, has a long history with police, including two arrests within three months in 2018.

That includes two arrests within three months in 2018.

He was charged with assaulting police officers and an emergency medical technician that January, and then ripping an officer’s baton from his duty belt that April.

He pleaded guilty in 2019 to the lesser charge of eluding and threatening law enforcement, court records show.

In 2015, Pleasantville agreed to pay him $50,000 to settle an excessive force suit he filed, John Paff reported on transparencynj.com.

That settlement stemmed from a Dec. 6, 2013 incident at Whitted’s home, in which he claimed Whitted was already on the ground and handcuffed when a K-9 dog was ordered to attack him and five other officers beat him, Paff reported.