Paterson Officer Charged for Shooting Black Man in His Back | Video
*A Paterson, New Jersey police officer has been criminally charged for shooting an unarmed Black man in the back last year — paralyzing him.
The victim, Khalif Cooper, 28, was reportedly running from gunfire when he was spotted by Officer Jerry Moravek, 40, who was investigating a disturbance that night, New Jersey Monitor reports. When gun shots erupted, a small crowd that had gathered in the street quickly dispersed. Cooper is seen on Moravek’s body camera footage running past him. This prompted a brief chase during which Moravek shouted at Cooper repeatedly to drop his gun.
Attorney General Matt Platkin said Moravek never ordered Cooper to stop running nor did he warn him that he would open fire. Instead, he shot at Cooper twice, hitting him once in the back.
Cooper has reportedly been left with bullet fragments in his spine and he’s unable to walk.
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The June 11 shooting, according to Platkin, “violated the state’s use of force policies, which allow officers to use deadly force only to protect themselves or the public from imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury,” per New Jersey Monitor.
“The victim was never ever told to stop running,” Platkin said. “He was not warned that deadly force might be used.”
Officer Moravek has been charged with second-degree aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and second-degree official misconduct, per the report.
As The Daily Voice reports, Defense attorney Patrick Caserta issued a statement Monday defending Moravek. Caserta claims his client “believed his life and the life of other people in the street was at risk.”
Source: Paterson Officer Charged for Shooting Black Man in His Back | Video
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