State Says Fatal Police Shooting Of Middletown Man Was Justified

Police were justified when they fatally shot a 39-year-old man in Middletown earlier this year, state officials said.

Officials said they made that determination about the death of Scott McAllister, following an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team, which includes investigators from both the state Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police Major Crime Unit.

“The undisputed facts showed that the use of force was justified under the law,” according to a statement about the investigation. “The investigation included witness interviews, forensic analysis of the scene, an autopsy and other evidence.”

Authorities have not disclosed the name of the SWAT team member who fired the fatal shot.

According to that statement:

Around 11 p.m. May 26, a neighbor called Middletown police to report a domestic dispute at a Bayside Parkway home.

The neighbor said McAllister’s girlfriend fled from her own home after he assaulted her. But the couple’s 13-month-old son was still in the home with McAllister.

Before police got the house, the neighbor called them back to report that McAllister was banging on her front door.

When officers arrived, the neighbor and the girlfriend told them McAllister left a gas can outside the neighbor’s home and said “I have something for you.”

The girlfriend also told them McAllister was intoxicated and had beaten her.

In the meantime, McAllister had barricaded himself inside the couple’s home. The baby was with him.

Middletown police contacted the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team - the SWAT team, who came to the scene and begin to negotiate with McAllister. But he dialed 911 and suggested police pull back because he was going to “put bullets in heads” and that “people were going to die.”

As SWAT team members unsuccessfully continued to try to contact and negotiate with McAllister, he sent text messages to the victim’s phone that included threats, such as “any force will be met with force” and “if you want to go home to your family you will leave now, in my house I kill.”

At one point, he tapped a large knife against the window, and at another point, he threw a “beer bottle in the direction of several officers, cursing them and saying “get off my property” and “get the big truck, you’re going to need it.’”

Around 4 a.m., SWAT team members decided to enter the house to get the baby, because “McAllister was becoming increasingly combative, raising concerns about the child’s safety. Other methods were used unsuccessfully to try to coax McAllister out of the residence before the entry.”

At 4:18 a.m. May 27, some SWAT team members entered through the front door, while other team members used a ladder to try to climb through the window of the baby’s bedroom, where he was in a crib.

One officer - named in the statement only as “Officer 1” - was assigned to climb through the bedroom the window to protect the child if McAllister entered the room.

When police came in through the front door, McAllister ran to his son’s bedroom.

Officer 1 was still on the ladder when McAllister entered the bedroom with what the officer “described as a “deranged” look on his face.”

Officer 1 told authorities McAllister was holding a large knife in a slashing position, and in a manner “that suggested he was going to slash with it or attempt to throw it at Officer 1.”

The officer shouted “Show me your hands!” and “Drop the knife!” multiple times. McAllister ignored him, and continued to approach him, while moving the knife in a slashing motion.

“According to Officer 1, McAllister then did a “stutter step” as he approached the window, which Officer 1 believed meant McAllister was about to stab him or attempt to throw the knife at him. Officer 1 then discharged his service rifle two times, fatally wounding McAllister.”

McAllister was shot in the head and the chest. Two large knives were found near his body.

When he fired his weapon, the officer fell off the ladder onto the ground, suffering a minor injury. Other SWAT team members secured the child.

“According to Officer 1, he was in fear for his own safety as well as that of his fellow officers and McAllister’s infant child at the time he discharged his weapon.”

Statements from other SWAT team members corroborated Officer 1‘s statement. Officers who had been near the front door also heard McAllister yell “I dare you to come in! I will punch you in the face and stab you!”

“After analyzing all of the facts and circumstances of this incident within the context of the Attorney General’s Use-of-Force Policy, Director (Elie) Honig concluded that Officer 1 used an acceptable level of force in pointing and firing his weapon at McAllister,’ the statement said. “The facts and circumstances reasonably led Officer 1 to believe that his actions were immediately necessary to protect himself, his fellow officers and McAllister’s infant son.”