Update In Officer-Involved Shooting That Killed Middlesex Co. Man

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ – A state grand jury decided not to charge an officer from the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office who fatally shot a Plainsboro man in February last year, NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.

On Aug. 21., the grand jury concluded its deliberation connected with the death of Atiba Lewis, 45, of Plainsboro who was fatally shot by Officer Phillip Nguyen of the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation included witnesses' interviews, photographs, body-worn camera footage review, and autopsy results from the medical examiner.

According to the investigation, the shooting occurred shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 16, 2022. An eviction notice had been authorized to remove Lewis from an apartment on Ravens Crest Drive in Plainsboro. The Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office executed the order with assistance from other law enforcement agencies in the morning.

During the execution of the order, officers found firearm paraphernalia in the residence, authorities said. Lewis was statutorily prohibited from possessing those firearms.

A state Superior Court judge thereafter authorized a search warrant for the apartment where four firearms were retrieved from Lewis’s residence and secured, officials said.

Lewis was out of the apartment during the time of the search.

Around 11:30 a.m., Lewis returned to the apartment complex, and law enforcement officers tried to arrest him for unlawful possession of the firearms.

When officers approached Lewis, he pulled out a knife and ran away from them. He continued to threaten the officers with the knife, authorities said. Several officers deployed Tasers in an attempt to disarm Lewis, the AG’s office said.

Lewis was agitated and advanced at officers several times with the knife. Around 11:35 a.m., Lewis advanced directly toward Nguyen, who then fired his weapon, fatally wounding Lewis, the AG’s office said.

Officers and emergency medical personnel rendered first aid to Lewis, who was taken to Princeton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:10 p.m.

State law requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports an indictment against the officer or officers involved.

Have a correction or a news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com