A grand jury has declined to file criminal charges against New Jersey State Police Sgt. Randall Wetzel, who is white, for fatally shooting Maurice Gordon, a Black motorist, during a traffic stop on the Garden State Parkway in 2020. Gordon died two days before the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Gordon is seen in the video sitting in the back of the car without handcuffs, and Wetzel tells him he needs to pat him down. Wetzel also offered to give Gordon a ride and call a tow truck.
About 20 minutes after the beginning of the encounter, Gordon released his seat belt and got out of the police car. Wetzel was off-camera but could be heard telling Gordon to return to the car. Gordon appeared to walk to the driver's side of the vehicle in an attempt to get in. "Get out of the car!" Wetzel yelled before the men moved off-screen. Scuffling sounds could be heard, followed by gunshots. Wetzel used pepper spray and fired six times, according to the attorney general's office.
Wetzel can be heard on the video telling a fellow trooper who arrived on the scene that Gordon, while handcuffed, tried to grab his gun. It wasn't clear when the handcuffs were placed on Gordon. Also released were audio recordings of a 911 call from the day before the shooting made by one of Gordon's friends, who said Gordon had left his house in the middle of the night looking "really panicked."A message was left Tuesday with William O. Wagstaff III, an attorney representing Gordon's family in a lawsuit filed against Wetzel, State Police Col. Patrick Callahan and then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, arguing race was a factor in Gordon's death.
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