The Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday released video footage from two body-worn cameras, a mobile video recorder in a police vehicle, and a residential camera that captured a deadly exchange of gunfire and the daring rescue of a 2-week old infant who was used as a human shield by a desperate gunman shooting at police as he unsuccessfully tried to escape after a nine-hour standoff with police.
The gunman has been identified as Mark D. Walker, II, 34, of Woodbridge, Va., who died in the fatal police shooting that occurred on November 6, 2021, in Long Branch, N.J.
Walker was wanted in connection to the homicide of 24-year-old Dymir Leonard, who was shot in the chest Nov. 2 in Asbury Park.
The fatal police shooting remains under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA).
The recordings are being released in response to an OPRA request and pursuant to policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 that are designed to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters.
Investigators met with Walker’s family to review the recordings before they were made available to the public.
According to the preliminary investigation, on Nov. 5 at approximately 5:10 p.m., members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office were attempting to execute a residential search warrant at 274 Chelsea Avenue, Apartment 1, in Long Branch.
As county detectives were executing the warrant, Walker shot one of the detectives in the lower leg.
The detectives repositioned outside of the building as Walker barricaded himself inside the apartment with an infant child, so members of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team were deployed to the scene.
Around 2:00 a.m. on Nov. 6, a fire erupted in the apartment, and Walker fled the building, holding the infant in his arms. While still holding the newborn baby, Walker began shooting at police.
Walker fired several rounds from a handgun at officers, striking a BearCat armored personnel vehicle parked in the roadway.
Three members of the SWAT team returned fire, hitting Walker, who was later pronounced dead at the scene. The infant was not injured.
The officers who fired at Walker were previously identified as Patrolman Eric Voorand of the Manalapan Township Police Department, Patrolman Daniel Murphy of the Howell Township Police Department, and Patrolman Omar Akel of the Middletown Township Police Department.
The county detective who was shot in the leg was taken to a local hospital and discharged later in the evening.
The building had been set on fire as an attempted diversion, which gutted the multi-dwelling building, displacing several people.
The recordings are posted online: Click here for recordings.
The investigation is ongoing and officials said no further information is being released at this time.
This investigation is being conducted pursuant to a state law enacted in January 2019, which requires that the Attorney General’s Office conduct all investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.
Separately, the Independent Prosecutor Directive issued in December 2019, outlines a 10-step process for conducting these investigations to ensure that they are conducted in a full, impartial and transparent manner.
When the entire investigation is complete, the case will be presented to a grand jury, which will decide whether criminal charges should be filed.
Just after 9:45 p.m. on Nov. 2, an off-duty Asbury Park Police Department lieutenant, who was driving his personal vehicle, stopped on Memorial Drive and Bangs Avenue where Leonard told the officer he had been shot.
Leonard was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was pronounced dead about 4:15 a.m. the next day.
An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Asbury Park Police Department determined that Walker was likely responsible for shooting Leonard he was holed up with a girlfriend