No Charges For Cop In Fatal Shooting At South Jersey Marshall's

The police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old Philadelphia woman at a South Jersey Marshall’s store over the summer won’t be indicted, according to authorities.

A Grand Jury has opted not to indict Deptford Township Police Sgt. Kevin Clements in connection with the fatal shooting of LaShanda Anderson, authorities announced.

It came to that decision following an investigation into the shooting, which took place on June 9 at the Deptford Marshall’s, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, which conducted the investigation.

Anderson was shot while she was driving a rented Nissan Armada at two officers in the store’s parking lot, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

The officers were responding to a 911 call placed by a security guard due to a shoplifting incident at the store. The security guard said she had encountered all three people in previous incidents.

She also claimed one of the three people involved had a warrant for manslaughter, and that she would need help stopping them. The subsequent investigation later revealed that none of the three was wanted for homicide.

Anderson, 42-year-old Raoul Gadson and 38-year-old Chanel Barnes, also of Philadelphia, were attempting to leave the store with $3,433.41 worth of merchandise without paying for it. Gadson struggled with the security guard while Anderson attempted to flee the scene, according to authorities.

Clements responded to the scene in a marked police car, and Deptford Township Police Capt. William Bittner responded in an unmarked car, according to a press release announcing the results of the investigation.

Bittner approached the group first as they were fighting with three men in the parking lot. As he approached, Anderson left the group and got in an SUV, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Before the driver’s side door was closed, Bittner drew his gun and pointed it at Anderson, commanding her to get out, the prosecutor’s office said. When she refused, he approached her, with his gun still drawn.

As he reached into the open driver door, Anderson started the SUV and sped off, which caused the driver’s side door to hit Bittner in the shoulder, the prosecutor’s office said.

After driving for 50 feet, Anderson stopped suddenly to let Barnes in. Barnes had been attempting to escape, with Clements chasing after her, according to the prosecutor’s office. Gadson had already fled the scene entirely.

Bittner continued his pursuit of the SUV on foot, removing an expandable baton from his duty belt. When he closed the distance to about 10 feet, Bittner threw the baton at the SUV’s rear window to either break or damage it. The rear window shattered completely. Authorities said this would make it more easily identifiable should the suspects escape.

Multiple witnesses told investigators that Clements was standing between 12 and 25 feet in front of the vehicle. He had his gun drawn, and was ordering Anderson to stop the SUV and get out.
Instead, she sped toward him, according to authorities. Clements, fearing for his life, fired three shots in rapid succession while moving toward his right to get out of the SUV’s way.

The SUV then began to turn and traveled through the Marshalls parking lot in a wide arc, over a curb, and down an embankment, striking an access road that was approximately four feet below the grade of the parking lot, causing the airbag to deploy. It came to final rest on an embankment adjoining that access road.

Investigators determined the SUV was traveling between 19 mph and 22 mph for the five seconds preceding its impact with the access road. Barnes was removed from the SUV and taken to a local hospital, where she was cleared for release that same night. She was arrested and charged with shoplifting.

She was then releasedon bail. Gadson fled the scene, but was arrested less than a week later and charged with second-degree robbery and second-degree assault.

Anderson died as a result of two of the gunshot wounds, according to the Gloucester County Medical Examiner’s Office. One gunshot wound was to the left side of Ms. Anderson’s head, and the other to her right elbow.

One projectile entered the bottom center of the SUV’s windshield, and another entered the right hood and struck the windshield just below the inspection sticker without entering the passenger compartment. A third penetrated the driver’s side mirror and window.

The investigation shows that the projectile that entered the bottom center of the windshield was discharged from a firearm that was in front of the vehicle at the time of discharge. The projectile that entered through the driver’s side mirror and window was discharged from a firearm in the area toward the front of the driver’s side of the vehicle, from front to back.

The Grand Jury didn’t consider the pending criminal charges against either Gadson or Barnes. Those matters are pending. Each is presumed innocent of those charges unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation of this fatal police-involved shooting included interviews of civilian and police witnesses, searches for and review of any available video footage, submission of evidence for examination by the New Jersey State Police-Ballistics Unit, analysis of data from the airbag control module (“black box”) of the 2018 Nissan Armada involved in the incident and medical examination reports.

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