A 19-year-old Newark man was charged with murder Saturday of an off-duty city police officer who was killed in a drive-by shooting while attempting to purchase a slice of pizza, according to officials with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
Rasul McNeil-Thomas, of Newark, also was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and additional weapons offenses for the shooting of two other victims during the incident, authorities said. Officials said a second suspect is still at-large.
William C. Johnson, 45, a 16-year veteran of the Newark Police Department, who was assigned to the communications division, was unarmed and not working when he was shot shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday night at Texas Fried Chicken and Pizza on Lyons Avenue in the city's South Ward, according to officials. He was pronounced dead at 3:10 a.m. Friday at University Hospital.
Johnson was a father of two daughters, a 22-year-old and an 11-year-old, according to Newark Police Department Det. Levi Holmes, who referred to Johnson as "the sweetest kind of guy who would never hurt anyone."
The two other victims, a 19-year-old female and a 21-year-old male, were injured during the incident. The man, who was shot in the stomach, was listed in stable condition at University Hospital, while the woman, who was shot in the shoulder, was treated and released. City officials said the woman was carrying a toddler during the incident. The toddler was unharmed. The identities of the man and woman were not released.
McNeil-Thomas was arrested without incident Friday at his home on Leslie Street, about half-a-mile from the location of the shooting. Healready had been charged Friday with conspiracy to commit carjacking, unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose.
Officials from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said Friday that early evidence suggests McNeil-Thomas stole a vehicle at gunpoint and that "evidence related to the shooting" was found in the vehicle, which has been recovered by police. The car, only described as a "late-model" vehicle, allegedly was carjacked shortly before the shooting and was found abandoned shortly after the incident, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray.
Acting Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said no more than 10 shots were fired from a car that pulled up to the restaurant at the corner of Clinton Place and Lyons Avenue. He also said authorities do not believe the officer was the intended target.
McNeil-Thomas currently is in Essex County Correctional Facility now in lieu of $1.5 million bail. Bail originally was set at $300,000.
The scene Friday was quiet with residents milling around the neighborhood, which is a strip of homes and shops that's roughly two blocks west of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. The Texas Fried Chicken and Pizza restaurant, a family-owned eatery, according to an employee, was back open with a shattered window waiting to be replaced.
A vigil is planned for Johnson Tuesday night, 6 p.m., at the restaurant's intersection, according to a spokesman with the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition.
Rasul McNeil-Thomas, of Newark, also was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and additional weapons offenses for the shooting of two other victims during the incident, authorities said. Officials said a second suspect is still at-large.
William C. Johnson, 45, a 16-year veteran of the Newark Police Department, who was assigned to the communications division, was unarmed and not working when he was shot shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday night at Texas Fried Chicken and Pizza on Lyons Avenue in the city's South Ward, according to officials. He was pronounced dead at 3:10 a.m. Friday at University Hospital.
Johnson was a father of two daughters, a 22-year-old and an 11-year-old, according to Newark Police Department Det. Levi Holmes, who referred to Johnson as "the sweetest kind of guy who would never hurt anyone."
The two other victims, a 19-year-old female and a 21-year-old male, were injured during the incident. The man, who was shot in the stomach, was listed in stable condition at University Hospital, while the woman, who was shot in the shoulder, was treated and released. City officials said the woman was carrying a toddler during the incident. The toddler was unharmed. The identities of the man and woman were not released.
McNeil-Thomas was arrested without incident Friday at his home on Leslie Street, about half-a-mile from the location of the shooting. Healready had been charged Friday with conspiracy to commit carjacking, unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose.
Officials from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said Friday that early evidence suggests McNeil-Thomas stole a vehicle at gunpoint and that "evidence related to the shooting" was found in the vehicle, which has been recovered by police. The car, only described as a "late-model" vehicle, allegedly was carjacked shortly before the shooting and was found abandoned shortly after the incident, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray.
Acting Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said no more than 10 shots were fired from a car that pulled up to the restaurant at the corner of Clinton Place and Lyons Avenue. He also said authorities do not believe the officer was the intended target.
McNeil-Thomas currently is in Essex County Correctional Facility now in lieu of $1.5 million bail. Bail originally was set at $300,000.
The scene Friday was quiet with residents milling around the neighborhood, which is a strip of homes and shops that's roughly two blocks west of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. The Texas Fried Chicken and Pizza restaurant, a family-owned eatery, according to an employee, was back open with a shattered window waiting to be replaced.
A vigil is planned for Johnson Tuesday night, 6 p.m., at the restaurant's intersection, according to a spokesman with the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition.
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