Grand jury clears Edison cops for April 2022 fatal shooting
Merrill Rambarose, 49, of Edison charges at Officer Joseph Elquemos of the Edison Police Department on April 12, 2022, in this still image from the officer’s bodycam. N.J. ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE/Bodycam Footage
EDISON, N.J., Oct. 15 (ZFJ) — A state grand jury declined to criminally charge two Edison police officers who shot Merrill Rambarose, 49, of Edison on April 12, 2022.
Witness interviews, photographs, video footage of the shooting, and autopsy results were presented to the grand jury, which concluded deliberations on Sept. 25 and voted “no bill”—meaning Officers Daniel Bradley and Joseph Elqumos will not have criminal charges filed against them.
According to the investigation, uniformed Edison police officers responded to a 911 call shortly after 15:45 reporting that a man was threatening a woman with an axe at an apartment complex on Judson Street in Edison.
Responding officers urged Rambarose, who was on his second-floor apartment balcony and upset by a neighbor’s smoking, to come downstairs to talk to them. Rambarose proceeded to go inside his apartment and exited the building armed with an axe.
Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the axe, but he refused to and charged officers with the weapon, prompting police to open fire.
Officers immediately rendered first aid to him until paramedics transported him to JFK University Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased at 16:41.
The N.J. Attorney General’s Office has released footage from three bodycams of the shooting, available here: https://njoag.app.box.com/s/qqq3m1wx52b1xwaottfjkld41cdvm3wc
Under state law, the Attorney General’s Office is required to investigate any deaths that happen in police encounters or while someone is in custody. The law also requires the results of investigations to be presented to grand juries, which ultimately determine if charges against the officers involved are warranted.
References
- New Jersey Attorney General’s Office - State Grand Jury Declines to Criminally Charge Officers Involved in Fatal Shooting in Edison on April 12, 2022 - https://www.njoag.gov/state-grand-jury-declines-to-criminally-charge-officers-involved-in-fatal-shooting-in-edison-on-april-12-2022/ (ARCHIVE)
- New Jersey Attorney General’s Office - 01 - Edison BWC 1 (redacted).mp4 - https://njoag.app.box.com/s/qqq3m1wx52b1xwaottfjkld41cdvm3wc/file/955936386053
- New Jersey Attorney General’s Office - 02 - Edison BWC 2 (redacted).mp4 - https://njoag.app.box.com/s/qqq3m1wx52b1xwaottfjkld41cdvm3wc/file/955932435348
- New Jersey Attorney General’s Office - 03 - Edison BWC 3 (redacted).mp4 - https://njoag.app.box.com/s/qqq3m1wx52b1xwaottfjkld41cdvm3wc/file/955936536009