Cop cleared in fatal shooting of driver following South Jersey shoplifting
Gloucester County NJ November 6 2018
A grand jury has decided not to indict a police officer who shot and killed a woman as she drove an SUV toward him while fleeing a shoplifting in June, authorities announced Thursday.
Sgt. Kevin A. Clements shot LaShanda Anderson, 36, of Philadelphia, as she tried to escape pursuing officers after stealing more than $3,000 in merchandise from a Marshalls store on June 9.
The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office made public their findings on the shooting — required by the state Attorney General’s office — and said they interviewed civilian and police witnesses, sought and reviewed any available video footage, reviewed ballistics evidence, medical examiner reports and airbag control module data from the SUV, which crashed after the shooting.
The results were presented to a grand jury, which declined to indict Clements for his use of force, the prosecutor’s office said.
The officer gave this narrative:
Police were alerted to the shoplifting when a loss prevention officer at Marshalls called 911 to report that three people were trying to leave without paying for merchandise.
During the call, he indicated that one of the shoplifters was wanted for a homicide. That information turned out to be incorrect, the prosecutor’s office confirmed Thursday.
As Anderson and two other alleged shoplifters, Chanel Barnes and Raoul Gadson, fled the store, they scuffled with loss prevention officers as police arrived.
Seeing the cops, Anderson ran for the trio’s SUV.
Capt. William Bittner pulled his gun “in a show of constructive force” as he ordered Anderson out of the vehicle. Instead, she accelerated and hit the officer with the door after he had re-holstered his weapon and began approaching the SUV.
Bittner ran after the SUV and threw his expandable baton at the rear window, shattering the glass, in hopes of making the vehicle easier to identify after the driver fled, prosecutors explained.
A Marshalls employee told the dispatcher one of the shoplifting suspects had a warrant for manslaughter. There’s no indication that any of the three involved had such a warrant.
Meanwhile, Clements was standing between 12 and 25 feet in front of the vehicle and drew his firearm as he ordered Anderson out of the vehicle.
The SUV accelerated toward him and “fearing for his life,” he fired three shots in rapid succession, striking Anderson twice.
As he fired, he also moved to his right to get out of the vehicle’s way.
The SUV, with Barnes in the passenger seat, continued traveling across the parking lot in a wide arc before running over a curb, down an embankment and “striking an access road,” setting off the airbags.
An analysis of airbag data indicated the vehicle was traveling at 19 to 22 mph for the five seconds before the airbag deployed.
The medical examiner determined that one shot struck the left side of Anderson’s head, while the other hit her right elbow.
An analysis of the trajectory of the bullets indicated one round that entered the bottom center of the windshield was fired from in front of the vehicle, while the shot that entered through the driver’s side mirror and window was discharged from a firearm toward the front of the driver’s side of the vehicle.
The investigation was complicated by the fact Deptford police don’t have body cameras.
Both Barnes, 38, and Gadson, 43, were arrested and charged in connection with their roles in the incident.
The trio were known to Marshalls staff from prior shoplifting incidents, prosecutors previously noted.
The Gloucester County NAACP issued a statement after Anderson was killed expressing concern about the shooting and seeking to “assist in the investigative process and close the divide that police shootings often create among citizens of diverse backgrounds.”
Loretta Winters, president of the county NAACP chapter, issued a statement Thursday night acknowledging that the prosecutor’s office had notified the group of the grand jury’s decision.
“The Gloucester County NAACP practiced its due diligence in pressing for an independent investigation and if we obtain further evidence we are open to revisiting this matter,” she said. “Again, we express our condolences to the family of LaShana Anderson and we will continue to press for body cameras for Deptford Police Department and are prepared to lend the support of the GC NAACP in promulgating policies and procedures to keep incidents like this from occurring again.”
Clements, who is in his early 40s, is a 19-year police veteran. He was placed on administrative leave pending completion of the investigation.
NJ.com
