Dashcam footage shows moment New Jersey state trooper fatally shoots unarmed black man, 28, six times after he jumped out of back of police cruiser during routine traffic stop
Newly-released dash-cam footage shows the moment a white New Jersey state trooper fatally shot a 28-year-old unarmed black man six times during a traffic stop last month.
Maurice Gordon, of Poughkeepsie, New York, died on May 23 after he was pulled over by Sergeant Randall Wetzel for allegedly traveling 110mph on the Garden State Parkway near Bass River just before 6.30am.
Footage of the stop has shed light on the events leading up to Gordon's death, which is now under investigation by the State Attorney General's office.
Wetzel was identified for the first time on Monday by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
He has been placed on paid administrative leave over the incident, State Police confirmed.
It comes amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis cop held him down by his neck for nearly nine minutes on Memorial Day.
Police dash cam footage released by New Jersey Attorney General's office shows the moments leading up to Maurice Gordon's (pictured) death
Gordon, 28, from Poughkeepsie, was pulled over by Sergeant Randall Wetzel (left) for speeding on the Garden State Parkway around 6.30am on May 23
Gordon's death is now under investigation by the state attorney general's office
The attorney for Gordon's family, William O. Wagstaff III, said in a phone interview he thought race was a factor in Gordon's death.
'If Maurice Gordon was a white male he'd still be alive,' Wagstaff told the Associated Press.
Videos of the incident, which will be presented to a grand jury for review, show a generally orderly confrontation before turning fatal when Gordon, who was not handcuffed at the time, exits the police cruiser.
Before the shooting, Gordon had pulled over on the left side of the road and Wetzel can be heard telling him it was not a safe spot and he should move his vehicle over more.
Gordon is heard saying his car won't start and Wetzel asks him if he wants to wait for a tow truck in his police car.
Instead of walking toward the car, Gordon begins to walk toward the highway and the trooper is seen guiding him towards the cruiser.
Wetzel told Gordon he needed to pat him down, and then Gordon sits in the back of the vehicle without handcuffs.
Wetzel asked Gordon a series of questions, including where he was going, but his responses are difficult to hear on video.
Wetzel can be heard confirming that Gordon wanted to go buy a new car, leading the trooper to tell him he cannot given the time of day and the COVID-19 outbreak.
After Gordon explains his car is dead, Wetzel is seen leading him into the police cruiser to wait for a tow truck
The pair's interaction is generally peaceful, before Gordon suddenly undoes his seatbelt and exits the car leading to a scuffle
Wetzel is later heard off screen telling Gordon to return to the car before gun shots ring out
The trooper then asks again where Gordon was going, and can be heard confirming a response that is inaudible in the video: Atlantic City.
'I still don't know why you were speeding. Why were you going that fast?' Wetzel asks. 'You in a hurry to get to Atlantic City?' he asks again, to which Gordon nods.
'I'm just trying to communicate with you to understand everything,' Wetzel said. 'I'm trying to help you out. Your car died.'
After roughly 20 minutes from the start of the traffic stop, Wetzel asked Gordon if he wanted a face mask.
'You want a mask like this to wear? Yeah? Do you have one in your car or no,' the trooper asked.
Gordon then releases his seat belt and opens the car door, getting out of the police vehicle.
At this point, Wetzel is off camera but can be heard chasing after Gordon saying: 'Get in the f***ing car now.'
Gordon returns to close the door and appears to walk to the driver's side of the vehicle in an attempt to get in.
'Get out of the car!' Wetzel is heard yelling.
The incident comes amid two weeks of nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice, following the death of black man George Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes
The men are off screen when the trooper called for another unit, but some of the scuffle can be seen through the back windshield of the cruiser before Wetzel opens fire.
Another official arrived minutes after the shooting, and Wetzel told him Gordon tried to take his cruiser and grab his gun before they got into a scuffle.
Wetzel said he initially tried to pepper spray Gordon before shooting, however the pepper spray was not visible in the video.
'He was in my car, went to give him a mask. He tried getting out of my car. We got in a fight on the side of the road. He tried running into my car. I got him out, sprayed him. We got in a fight again. He ran away from me, tried to hop in my trooper car, grab my gun. We were fighting with my gun and I shot him. He was already cuffed,' Wetzel said.
It's unclear when Gordon was handcuffed by the officer.
According to the Attorney General's office, the incident marked the fourth time police had interacted with Gordon that morning.
NJ.com reports Gordon had broken down twice earlier, once in Brick, New Jersey at 3.13am and a second time at 4.52am in Waretown.
About 15 minutes before his stop with Wetzel, Gordon had also been pulled over for speeding in Stafford, for which he was given a ticket.
An audio recording was also released of a 911 call made the previous day by Gordon's friend, who was concerned after he left the house in the middle of the night looking 'really panicked.'
Wagstaff told USA Today Gordon's family was 'outraged' after the state released footage of the fatal shooting before they could see it.
He said the family was asked to come to the attorney general's office in Whippany, New Jersey, just before it was released on Monday, to watch the footage, which Wagstaff called an 'unreasonable request.'
After the video was sent via email, Wagstaff asked officials to hold off on releasing it, to give the family time.
'It was radio silent for a matter of hours, it's released to the public and the family is receiving text messages from people saying that they believe that it is on YouTube,' he said.
Gordon's grieving mother, Racquel Barrett, who is from the UK, has since flown into the US in search of answers.
'I can't eat, I can't sleep and just want answers to what happened to my son at 6:30 in the morning,' she told The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.
'I don't know how I'm going to go on in life not hearing his voice.'
The family said Gordon was a student at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie and also worked as an Uber driver. It is unknown why he was traveling on the Garden State Parkway at that hour.
Dashcam footage shows moment New Jersey state trooper fatally shoots unarmed black man, 28, six times after he jumped out of back of police cruiser during routine traffic stop
![Dashcam footage shows moment New Jersey state trooper fatally shoots unarmed black man, 28, six times after he jumped out of back of police cruiser during routine traffic stop]()
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June 10, 2020
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