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Don Jones

Age : 50

Gender : Male

Race : Unknown

Date : 08/29/2023

Location : West Side Park, near South 13th Street and 18th Avenue

City : Newark

County : Essex

State : New Jersey

Agency : Newark Police Department; U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force

Officer(s) :Jasmine Jimenez

Cause of Death : Suicide

Event : Suicide under police duress

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/29/2023, members of the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force were in the area of West Side Park in Newark attempting to locate and arrest Don Jones, 50, of Newark. Jones had an active arrest warrant stemming from a homicide investigation in Union County. The task force requested assistance from Newark Police Department officers.
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Officers encountered Jones inside West Side Park. According to the New Jersey Attorney General's subsequent investigation, officers saw Jones remove a handgun from his waistband. Jones then ran through the park while task-force members and Newark police pursued him on foot and ordered him to drop the firearm.
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Jones ran into an open field in the park, where pursuing officers surrounded him. The Attorney General's investigation determined that Jones dropped to a kneeling position and pointed the handgun at his own head. Newark Police Officer Jasmine Jimenez fired her service weapon toward Jones at approximately the same time Jones fired his own gun.
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Jimenez's gunfire did not strike Jones or anyone else. Jones sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. This later forensic determination corrected early breaking-news reports that initially described the incident as a police shooting and reported that an officer had shot the man.
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Emergency personnel transported Jones to University Hospital in Newark, where lifesaving efforts were performed. He was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m.
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The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability conducted the investigation. Investigators reviewed witness interviews, video recordings, ballistics testing and autopsy findings. Video capturing the encounter was subsequently released publicly, and investigators met with representatives of Jones' family to review the recordings before their public release.
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Because Jones died during an encounter with law-enforcement officers acting in their official capacity, the investigation was presented to a state grand jury under New Jersey's police-involved fatality procedures.
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On 05/13/2024, the state grand jury completed its deliberations and returned a no bill, declining to indict Officer Jasmine Jimenez. The New Jersey Attorney General publicly announced the decision on 05/15/2024.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.rlsmedia.com/article/breaking-shooting-leaves-male-seriously-injured-inside-west-side-park-newark
https://www.nj.com/essex/2023/09/man-who-died-during-encounter-with-police-in-nj-park-shot-himself-investigators-say.html
https://www.njoag.gov/state-grand-jury-declines-to-criminally-charge-officer-in-connection-with-fatality-in-newarks-west-side-park-on-august-29-2023/
https://www.rlsmedia.com/article/update-nj-attorney-general-investigates-police-involved-shooting-west-side-park-newark
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/west-side-park-newark-police-shooting/