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Tremaine Jackson

Age : 28

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/31/2023

Location : Lowe’s, 2225 Hessler Boulevard

City : Minquadale

County : New Castle

State : Delaware

Agency : Delaware State Police

Officer(s) :Michael Efelis; Thomas Macauley

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police under undisclosed circumstances

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/31/2023, at approximately 7:00 a.m., Delaware State Police were conducting an operation to locate and arrest Tremaine D. Jackson, 28, of Wilmington. A later Delaware Department of Justice investigation established that Jackson had 21 active arrest warrants, primarily involving alleged retail thefts, four pending probation violations and two out-of-state warrants. Police were also aware of two vehicle pursuits involving Jackson earlier in August 2023.
DSP’s Electronic Surveillance Unit located Jackson at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store at 2225 Hessler Boulevard. Plainclothes officers located him inside the store and, because police considered him a flight risk, requested additional personnel. Members of DSP’s Special Operations Response Team and Drug Unit responded and established a perimeter around the store while officers inside monitored Jackson.
Police alleged that Jackson filled a shopping cart with merchandise and left through the rear of the Lowe’s without paying. SORT Troopers Joshua Cary, Mitchell Moyer and Michael Efelis were waiting behind the business in an undercover pickup truck. When they approached, Jackson pushed the shopping cart in front of the police truck and ran toward a car parked along a guardrail. Cary injured his quadriceps while beginning the foot pursuit and fell to the ground. Moyer continued after Jackson and reached the driver's side of Jackson's vehicle as Jackson got inside and started it.
Moyer attempted to pull Jackson through the driver's-side opening while Jackson held onto the steering wheel. Efelis drove the undercover police pickup in front of Jackson's car, deliberately positioning the truck so Jackson's vehicle was confined between the police truck and a guardrail. The Delaware DOJ described this as a police “pinch” maneuver.
Efelis then opened the police truck's driver's-side door, further obstructing Jackson's path, and got out. According to the DOJ reconstruction, Jackson accelerated and his car pushed against the police truck, causing Efelis to move onto the hood of Jackson's car to avoid being struck. Moyer remained at the driver's side attempting to remove Jackson.
A second undercover police truck arrived carrying Lieutenant Matt Fuski, Trooper Dan Eby and Trooper Thomas Macauley. Macauley saw Cary injured on the ground and initially believed Jackson's vehicle might have struck him. Macauley then saw Moyer at the driver's side of Jackson's car and Efelis on its hood. Macauley climbed onto the hood beside Efelis.
According to the DOJ investigation, Jackson continued accelerating while officers ordered him to stop. Efelis warned Jackson that he would shoot if Jackson continued. Efelis then fired one round into Jackson. Police reported that Jackson briefly appeared as though he might stop but then accelerated again. Macauley subsequently fired one round. Both bullets struck Jackson in the chest. Moyer was still attempting to remove Jackson from the vehicle when the shots were fired, while Efelis and Macauley were positioned on its hood.
Additional troopers arrived immediately afterward and removed Jackson from the car. Police provided medical treatment, including assistance from a SORT medic. Jackson was alive and responsive when transported by ambulance but died at the hospital. An autopsy determined that he sustained two gunshot wounds to the chest and that the gunshots caused his death.
DSP initially withheld the identities of both Jackson and the officers. On 09/03/2023, police publicly identified Jackson and disclosed only that the shooters were four-year and 12-year DSP veterans. Both shooters were placed on administrative leave while DSP and the Delaware Department of Justice investigated.
Jackson's family and the Delaware NAACP subsequently called for an independent investigation and release of video from the killing. The Delaware NAACP also called for a federal pattern-or-practice investigation of Delaware State Police.
The Delaware Department of Justice Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust later identified the shooters as Trooper Michael Efelis and Trooper Thomas Macauley. Investigators reviewed video, dispatch records, civilian and police witness interviews, scene photographs and medical records. Both Efelis and Macauley gave recorded interviews explaining their decisions to fire.
On 02/17/2025, approximately 18 months after Jackson was killed, the Delaware DOJ released its final use-of-force determination. Prosecutors concluded that Efelis and Macauley reasonably believed that Jackson's continued acceleration threatened Moyer, who was positioned between Jackson's vehicle and the guardrail, as well as Efelis and Macauley. The DOJ concluded that each officer's single gunshot was legally justified in defense of themselves and another officer and that neither officer committed a criminal offense.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://6abc.com/officer-involved-shooting-suspect-dead-new-castle-delaware-deadly/13721701/
https://dsp.delaware.gov/2023/08/31/state-police-detectives-investigating-officer-involved-shooting/
https://dsp.delaware.gov/2023/09/03/delaware-state-police-identify-fugitive-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting/
https://firststateupdate.com/2023/08/suspect-dead-officer-reportedly-wounded-in-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2023/09/03/police-identified-man-killed-in-the-officer-involved-shooting-at-lowes/70757332007/
https://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/executive/use-of-force-investigations/report-of-the-department-of-justice-on-august-31-2023-use-of-force-by-delaware-state-police/
https://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/executive/use-of-force-investigations/
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/tremaine-jackson-delaware-state-police-shooting-attorney-news-conference/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/state-clears-troopers-2023-fatal-204320674.html
https://dsp.delaware.gov/2023/03/16/delaware-state-police-announce-2022-trooper-and-civilian-employee-of-the-year/
https://dsp.delaware.gov/2021/04/20/delaware-state-police-announce-2020-trooper-and-civilian-employee-of-the-year/