2 Fatal Police Shootings In Essex County; Man Commandeers Bus

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A 37-year-old man allegedly commandeered a bus at gunpoint and forced the driver to take a harrowing trip from East Orange to Newark on Tuesday evening. Police officers then fatally shot the man as he exited the bus at a busy intersection and pointed his gun at them, authorities said.

Less than 24 hours later, a separate fatal police incident involving an armed person closed down a section of Bergen Street in Newark, a spokesperson with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, around 9:40 p.m., Allen Travers, 37, of East Orange allegedly got into a “domestic dispute.” He then left his home armed with a gun and boarded a public bus.

East Orange police attempted to stop Travers, but as they approached he allegedly pointed his gun at them, prosecutors said.

Travers then pointed the gun at the bus driver’s head and ordered her to drive away. With the East Orange officers in pursuit, the bus went through several red lights, eventually coming to a stop in the area of Central Avenue and South 10th Street in Newark.

When Travers exited the bus, he allegedly pointed his gun at the waiting officers. They then fired their weapons at Travers and struck him, prosecutors said.

Emergency responders transported Travers to University Hospital in Newark. He was pronounced dead at 11:16 p.m., authorities stated.

As per attorney general guidelines, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the shooting, authorities said. No additional information was immediately available.

SHOOTING AT BERGEN AND LYONS

Less than a day after the shooting involving Travers, a separate police-involved incident in Newark ended with one suspect dead and another hospitalized, authorities said.

Mayor Ras Baraka called the incident “an unfortunate situation” during a press conference on Wednesday.

According to Baraka, around 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, the Newark Police Department and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office were involved in an investigation near Bergen Street and Lyons Avenue when they came across an armed suspect in a vehicle.

That’s when shots were fired, the mayor said.

“One suspect is in custody at the hospital and the other was DOA at the scene,” Baraka said. “Other than that, nobody was hurt.”

Baraka said that the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is taking over the case and is investigating the shooting.

The roadway was closed on Bergen Street between Watson and Chancellor due to a joint investigation between the Newark Police Division and Essex County Sheriff's Office, authorities stated at 4:45 p.m.

A Newark police emergency response team determined that there was “no peril to the community” during the incident, authorities said.

On Thursday afternoon, Essex County prosecutors identified the deceased as Paul Braswell, 29, of Newark.

According to the ECPO:

“The preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 3:39 p.m. yesterday a multi-agency task force was investigating gun offenses. Braswell and the surviving suspect were the focus of that investigation. Members of the task force attempted to make a traffic stop to arrest the two. The incident escalated when the vehicle attempted to escape. While effecting the arrest, one or more officers fired their service weapons. The surviving suspect attempted to flee the car. He was immediately taken into custody.”

Prosecutors continued:

“Braswell remained in the vehicle. For 45 minutes to an hour, law enforcement undertook efforts to get Braswell to voluntarily exit the vehicle. There was no response from Braswell. Subsequently, a robot was deployed. Using the robot, officers obtained visual evidence that Braswell was either dead or unable to respond. Based on that, they opened the car and discovered that he was dead.”

The ECPO stated:

“The suspects were in possession of three weapons which were recovered at the scene. Ballistic tests will determine which weapon caused Braswell’s death.”

According to prosecutors, the surviving suspect has not been charged. He was hospitalized and is in stable condition. Aside from Braswell and the suspect in the car with him, no civilians or members of law enforcement were injured.

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