AG’s Office releases video from police vehicle related to fatal police-involved shooting in Somerset County
HILLSBOROUGH, NJ (Somerset County) – The Attorney General’s Office Monday released video footage and audio from the mobile video recorder (MVR) in a police vehicle related to a fatal police-involved shooting that occurred on September 28, 2021 in Hillsborough Township. The victim has been identified as Patrick Chin, 43, of Hillsborough Township.
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, authorities said.
Investigators previously met with Chin’s family to review the video recording, authorities said.
According to the preliminary investigation, uniformed officers of the Hillsborough Township Police Department responded to Chin’s residence on Piedmont Path at around 4:10 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2021 in response to a request that the police check on the welfare of Chin, authorities said.
When the officers arrived, they encountered Chin inside the home, holding an approximately three-foot long sword. During the encounter, Officer George Kokinakous fired his service weapon, fatally wounding Chin, authorities said.
Officers and medical personnel rendered first aid to Chin, who was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 5:28 p.m., authorities said.
The four other officers of the Hillsborough Township Police Department who were at the scene at the time of the shooting have been identified as Officer Robert Feriello, Officer Thomas Gurba, Officer Kyle Edmonds, and Officer Dylan Ely. Officer Feriello deployed OC spray at Chin during the incident.
To view the MVR recording, click here.
There is no body camera footage or other video footage that captures the actual shooting.
The fatal shooting remains under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA).
This investigation is being conducted pursuant to a state law enacted in January 2019 (P.L. 2019, c.1), 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, which was issued in December 2019, outlines a 10-step process for conducting these investigations. The Directive establishes clear procedures governing such investigations to ensure that they are conducted in a full, impartial and transparent manner. Under both state law and the Directive, when the entire investigation is complete, the case will be presented to a grand jury, typically consisting of 16 to 23 citizens, to make the ultimate decision regarding whether criminal charges will be filed.
