Police-Involved Shooting In Jefferson Was Justified: AG

JEFFERSON, NJ — A New Jersey State Police trooper was justified when he shot and non-fatally injured a man during a domestic violence investigation in Jefferson Township last year, the New Jersey attorney general's office said on Tuesday.

Matthew Gerndt, 35, of Lake Hopatcong, was shot by police on May 28, 2017 when state troopers went to his home to arrest him on domestic violence charges, the attorney general's office said. During the arrest, he allegedly charged at officers before being shot once.

According to the Attorney General, police responded to his home after they found a woman walking on the shoulder of I-80. She told police her boyfriend, Gerndt, has assaulted her while driving on the highway and forced her out of the car. Police said she had injuries consistent with her story.

• Read more: State Police Shoot Man Near Lake Hopatcong

When police arrived at his home, Gerndt allegedly hid from police. Troopers forced their way into the home, searching for Gerndt inside.

According to the Attorney General's Office:

At that point, Trooper 1 felt a rush of air on the back of his neck as the door behind him was yanked open by Gerndt. Trooper 1 heard the second trooper yell “Watch your back!” Trooper 1 turned and raised his left arm to defend himself as Gerndt allegedly rushed him, driving him back against a wall of the narrow hallway. Trooper 1 had already drawn his service pistol and was holding it at his right hip when he was charged. He fired twice while Gerndt was assaulting him. One round struck Gerndt in the side of his left buttock and exited toward the rear of his left buttock.

Gerndt was taken to Morristown Medical Center for treatment, where it was determined he had a blood alcohol content of .29 percent. None of the officers involved were injured.

"The facts and circumstances reasonably led the officer to believe his actions were immediately necessary to protect himself and his fellow officers from death or serious injury. An officer may use deadly force in New Jersey when the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm," the Attorney General's office said in their statement.

All police-involved shootings are investigated by the Attorney General's Office. Jefferson Township police were not involved in the shooting.

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