NJAG Releases Police Video of Ventnor Shooting on August 6th

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has released police bodycam video from a shooting on August 6th in Ventnor in which a man from Pennsylvania was fatally shot by authorities.

In the incident, 30-year-old Amir Johnson of Wilkes-Barre, PA, was wounded multiple times after video shows he advanced on officers with a broken bottle in his hand.

According to a preliminary investigation,

at approximately 4:16 p.m., Ventnor and Atlantic City Police Department officers responded to a 911 call concerning a man behaving erratically in the vicinity of Wellington Avenue and West End Avenue. When the responding officers encountered the man, later identified as Amir Johnson, he was walking in and out of a marshy area along the roadway, while holding a broken glass bottle in his hand. The officers attempted to engage Mr. Johnson and offer him assistance, but he refused to comply with their commands, including repeated requests for him to drop the bottle. Instead, he continued to walk back and forth on the roadway, where officers had stopped traffic for safety reasons.

 

At approximately 4:30 p.m., Mr. Johnson advanced on officers with the broken bottle in his hand and multiple officers fired their weapons, fatally wounding him. He was rushed by ambulance to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City Campus, where he was pronounced deceased at approximately 6:00 p.m.

The Attorney General’s Office previously released the identity of the police officers who fired at Mr. Johnson. They are Michael Arena, Pierluigi Mancuso, and Robert Scarborough of the Ventnor City Police Department.

The investigation continues; when it is finished, the case will be presented to a grand jury which will determine if criminal charges will be filed against the officers.

We caution you that the video, posted to YouTube by NJ.com, is extremely graphic -- it shows Johnson being shot multiple times.