Gov. Murphy: Review For Police-Involved Death In Asbury Park

ASBURY PARK – Gov. Phil Murphy said on Friday he hasn't seen the video of a recent police-involved shooting in Asbury Park, but a review is underway.

Murphy said the shooting remains under investigation by the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, following a process created "a couple years ago" to investigate police-involved shootings.

Recordings were released earlier in the week pursuant to Attorney General Directive 2019-4, the "Independent Prosecutor Directive," which governs use-of-force investigations in New Jersey.

The directive means any officer-involved shooting, Murphy said, is put into a separate independent process "that ends up in a grand jury no matter what."

Murphy said he was told the video of the shooting is "quite disturbing" and "any loss of life is a tragedy so we mourn the loss of life here."

The Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday released video recordings from officer body-worn cameras connected to the Aug. 21 fatal police-involved shooting in Asbury Park (a link to the video is below; viewer discretion advised).

Hasani Best, 39, of Asbury Park was fatally shot by police after holding what appeared to be a knife and saying "I'm going to stab him" as fully armed police officers confronted him, according to video released by the Office of Attorney General.

On Wednesday, investigators met with relatives of Best to review the 911 call and the video recordings from the body-worn cameras and a Taser camera.

According to the preliminary investigation, several officers of the Asbury Park Police Department responded shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 21 to a report of a loud domestic dispute inside a two-family residence in the 900 block of 4th Avenue in Asbury Park, the OAG said.

When police arrived, the man and woman involved in the dispute were at the residence. The woman was outside, and the man, later identified as Best, barricaded himself inside the upstairs apartment, the OAG said. Monmouth County sheriff’s officers arrived to assist the Asbury Park police officers.

Officers talked with Best through the door of the apartment. During the incident, Best opened the door at various times, revealing that he was armed with a knife, the OAG said.

Best continued to hold the knife despite requests from the police to drop the weapon. Officers attempted to use a Taser, but it was not effective, the OAG said.

Best remained armed with the knife, and at approximately 10:10 p.m., an Asbury Park officer shot and fatally wounded him. Officers and EMS rendered medical aid, and EMS transported Best to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was pronounced dead at 10:31 p.m.

The video of the shooting can be seen here. Viewer discretion advised.

The audio and video recordings are contained in 12 files, which have been posted online. The full video footage from the two body-worn cameras has been divided into 10 files— five per camera. They are posted in chronological order. Click here for all of the files.

The identity of the officer who fired at Best was previously released by the Attorney General’s Office: Sgt. Sean DeShader of the Asbury Park Police Department.