Officer shot and wounded, driver killed after police chase on Garden State Parkway, attorney general says
CRANFORD, N.J. -- A police chase involving a stolen vehicle led to an officer being shot and the driver killed on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey, the attorney general's office says.
The shootout happened just before midnight Thursday near Exit 131 in Woodbridge.
Investigators say the driver of a stolen work van who was being pursued by police got out and began firing a weapon, striking a Cranford officer in the arm.
"The guy spun out, the Cranford officers pulled up, and the guy basically got out shooting, and the officers returned fire and, as we know, the suspect's deceased," said Pat Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association.
Colligan says the officer, whose name has not been released, was rushed to University Hospital.
"Really a miracle it was a through-and-through wound, hit no bones. They checked him out and released him," he said.
Police sources say the pursuit started on the corner of Centennial and Grant in Cranford near a busy bar.
The New Jersey attorney general's office, which is investigating, says a firearm was recovered near the driver.
"The problem is we live in a very dangerous time. We can't take anything for granted," Cranford resident Eric Shea said.
The attorney general's office in April of 2022 revised police pursuit guidelines, allowing them in several instances, including in residential burglaries and vehicle thefts because of an uptick in both.
"You have to take into consideration road conditions, time of the day, area that you are in, whether it is populated, urban area," said Mike Barry, a retired Port Authority Police sergeant currently with the National Police Defense Foundation.
The Cranford Police Department is not commenting because this is now an attorney general investigation.
Gov. Phil Murphy, who is out of state, posted on social media, "Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. We are praying for the officer's swift recovery."