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Video Shows New Jersey Police Fatally Shooting Man with His Hands Raised

The black suspect who died was known to one of the officers who had helped arrest him last summer on drugs and obstruction charges.
Photo via YouTube

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A seemingly innocuous traffic stop in New Jersey in December quickly turned fatal and ended in the shooting death of a black man as he emerged from the passenger side of the vehicle with his arms raised.

Police dash camera footage released this week after an Open Public Records request shows Bridgeton, New Jersey officer Braheme Days and his partner, Roger Worley, pulling over a blue Jaguar on the evening of December 30 for allegedly running a stop sign.

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The situation rapidly escalates when Days reportedly spots a handgun in the glove compartment of the Jaguar and appears to reach in to remove it. Days can be heard on the video yelling at the car's driver, Leroy Tutt, and the passenger, Jerame Reid, "Don't you fucking move! Show me your hands!"

Despite the warnings, Reid emerges from the car with his hands raised above shoulder level. At that point the officers rapidly open fire, killing the 36-year-old. Approximately nine shots can be heard fired by the two officers.

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According to the South Jersey Times, Reid was known to Days, who had previously assisted in arresting the suspect on several drugs and obstruction charges over the summer. Reid had also spent 13 years in prison for shooting three New Jersey state troopers as a teen. He was released in 2008.

At one point in the video, Days addresses Reid by name: "Hey Jerame, you reach for something you're going to be fucking dead."

Reid can be heard replying, "I ain't doing nothing. I'm not reaching for nothing, bro. I ain't got no reason to reach for nothing."

Conrad Benedetto, a Philadelphia lawyer hired by Reid's wife, Lawanda, released a statement saying the video "raises serious questions as to the legality and/or reasonableness of the officers' actions that night."

The officers have been placed on paid leave pending a Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office investigation into the incident. Bridgeton police released a statement Tuesday saying the release of the video was neither, "compassionate or professional," but refrained from further comment.

Days, who is black, has had seven municipal court complaints filed against him since 2013 for alleged abuse of power, according to the South Jersey Times. Worley, who is white, has also reportedly had two  complaints filed against him. All complaints were later dismissed.