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CAMDEN
- The Attorney General’s Shooting
Response Team is conducting an investigation
into the circumstances surrounding a shooting
incident involving the New Jersey State
Police that occurred in Camden about 10
p.m. last night.
According
to the preliminary investigation, New Jersey
State Police Detectives William Stolinski,
Joseph Loschiavo and Detective Sergeant
Mark Cunard were detailed at 9:56 p.m. to
a call of reported shots fired near the
intersection of 8th and Tulip streets. The
detectives were assigned, as members of
a strategic investigations unit, to identify
high crime areas involving illegal firearms
and shootings affecting the quality of life
in Camden. They were traveling in an unmarked
SUV driven by Cunard and dressed in civilian
clothes, topped by State Police vests and
police identifiers. The preliminary investigation
has determined that as they approached the
intersection, a man, later identified as
John Thomas-El, 27, of Camden, discharged
three rounds into the air from a handgun.
When the detectives exited their vehicle
and approached Thomas-El, he fled and disobeyed
commands to stop made by the detectives.
As Thomas-El continued to flee, he pointed
the handgun at the detectives and discharged
one round in their direction. Detective
Sergeant Cunard fired his service weapon
three times at the suspect, striking him
once in the upper right arm. Thomas-El fell
to the sidewalk, and was placed under arrest.
He was transported to Cooper Hospital in
Camden. A partially loaded semi-automatic
handgun was recovered on the sidewalk near
Thomas-El.
Thomas-El
was charged with Attempted Homicide, Aggravated
Assault, Possession of a Firearm for an
Unlawful Purpose, and Certain Persons Not
to Possess Firearms. Thomas-El remains under
guard at the hospital, with bail set at
$250,000.
The
incident remains under investigation by
the Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team. Under an Attorney General Directive,
the Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team, made up of Deputy Attorney’s
General and state investigators from the
Division of Criminal Justice and detectives
from the State Police Major Crime Unit,
are dispatched to the scene to conduct the
investigation. The Attorney General’s
Shooting Response Team also receives investigative
and administrative support from county prosecutor’s
offices. The Camden County Prosecutor’s
Office is assisting in the ongoing investigation.
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