No Indictments in Officers’ Fatal Shooting of Black Man

A New Jersey grand jury on Monday declined to indict two State Police troopers and two local police officers for shooting a black man to death on an interstate highway in June, ruling that the police acted in self-defense.

Morris County Prosecutor John Dangler, who conducted the investigation into the shooting, said he could not say why the Morristown grand jury failed to indict the officers.

“What were their exact reasons for doing what they did? I can’t speak for them. I think their document speaks for itself,” he said.

Stanton Crew, 31, was driving without a license or insurance on Interstate 80 on June 2 when police tried to pull him over for speeding. After a 7-mile chase, police shot at Crew 27 times, hitting him four times and killing him.

Police said they opened fire because they feared for their lives when Crew started weaving his car to escape.

Crew’s family said they would appeal the decision.

They say the shooting was racially motivated, with Crew singled out because he was black. The police denied that race played any role, and Dangler said his investigation did not uncover a racial component.

But the state’s attorney general is reviewing police use of deadly force in the wake of the shooting and other incidents on state highways involving police shootings of minorities.