NJ AG: Man accused of shooting trooper in Paterson arrested in South Carolina

PATERSON — In barely 36 hours, authorities tracked down a man they say shot and injured a New Jersey State Police officer in Paterson and arrested him on attempted murder charges in South Carolina on Friday afternoon.

The suspect, Jocquise Timmons of Paterson, allegedly stepped out from behind a parked vehicle, assumed a shooting stance, and opened fire on two unmarked vehicles driven by troopers early Thursday morning near the corner of 9th Avenue and East 26th Street, said Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

At the time of the shooting, the troopers were following another vehicle they believed to be involved in a break-in at a nearby house, Platkin said. One trooper suffered a nonfatal wound to the leg, and he is expected to make a full recovery, the attorney general said.

Timmons, who was born in 1994, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and four counts of aggravated assault. Authorities have not explained the aggravated assault charges. Timmons previously was convicted on drug dealing charges, according to state court records.

Officials have not released the trooper’s name. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. said the wounded trooper is the father of a 1-year-old child.

The trooper in the other vehicle that was fired upon was not injured, Platkin said.

Platkin said investigators have recovered the gun from the shooting and that there’s no evidence of any other weapons being involved. But numerous questions remain unanswered about the incident.

Authorities have not revealed why State Police officers in unmarked vehicles would be investigating a low-level crime like a house burglary. Officials also have not said whether the gunman knew police officers were driving the vehicles that he shot at. Nor have they said if there are other suspects.

None of the troopers at the scene fired their guns, Platkin said.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, law enforcement officials said they were looking for multiple people connected to the crime and police officers swarmed the neighborhood where the shooting happened.

Platkin said that when he visited the wounded trooper at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, the officers brushed aside questions about his own health and wanted to talk about another case and saving lives.

“The New Jersey trooper who was shot yesterday in Paterson is in great spirits,” Platkin said. “We’re not releasing his name at this time out of concern for his safety.

Platkin said the trooper was expected to be released from the hospital soon. “It’s a small miracle,” he added.

The complaints filed by the New Jersey State police said Timmons and another man, identified as “John John,” tried to get inside a house on East 26^th Street at 10:54 p.m.  on Wednesday night. The two men — wearing masks and gloves — were recorded by a doorbell camera trying to get inside the front door, the complaint said.

When they couldn’t get in the front door, the two of them tried getting inside a side door, before leaving, the complaint said.

Later in the night, state police conducted surveillance of the house and one unmarked vehicle began following a blue Odyssey, the complaint said. The trooper who was wounded and another state police officer were joining the pursuit in separate vehicles when they were “ambushed” by Timmons, police said.

Investigators found ballistics evidence of nine shots being fired and five bullet holes in the two vehicles, authorities said.

The blue van later was found abandoned near East 29^th Street and Park Avenue, the complaint said. Surveillance video show three people flee the van. Timmons and “John John” escaped while the third person, identified as a confidential witness, was captured soon afterward, police said.

Earlier:State trooper shot in leg in Paterson, one suspect in custody as police seek others

On the surface, the area of Paterson where the trooper was shot doesn’t look like other places in the city where gunfire is commonplace. The single-family homes with well-tended lawns stand in stark contrast to Paterson’s most-troubled neighborhoods.

But don’t be fooled by appearances. The shooting happened in a part of Paterson very familiar to the State Police and the Attorney General’s detectives who investigate gangs. A block away from the shooting is 10th Avenue, a thoroughfare notorious for open-air drug dealing.

Back in 2019, state law enforcement officials conducted a five-month probe targeting the Bloods-affiliated So Icy Boys gang, which authorities said was based at the corner of 10th Avenue and East 28th Street.

That crackdown resulted in nine arrests and afterward, gang activity in the area declined for a little while, according to residents and public officials. But the problems are back on the upswing. Just three weeks ago, two people suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds in a shooting at the corner of 10th Avenue and East 23rd Street.

Authorities have not indicated whether Thursday’s shooting was connected to the gangs in the area.

Retired pastor John Algera, who has served many years with Paterson’s Cease-Fire antiviolence community group, lives less than two block from the shooting scene.

“In the summer, when we have the windows open, we often hear shots,” said Algera. “But we’ve never been afraid to walk in our neighborhood. We’ve lived here 45 years and I’ve never felt unsafe in my neighborhood.”

Algera said he was offended by the crime.

“It makes people want to move out of our city,” he said.

The shooting also happened near the home of Pascrell, a former mayor of Paterson.

“When something hits your neighborhood, it’s a little different from reading about it in the newspaper,” Pascrell said. “That trooper was trying to help us and he got shot.”

The congressman bemoaned the widespread availability of guns.

“Everybody has a gun, you can’t even keep track of them,” he said.

Mayor Andre Sayegh said he also visited the injured trooper in the hospital and told him he was a hero. The mayor said despite the trooper shooting, Paterson is making improvements in public safety.

The city had record numbers of homicides in 2020 and 2021.

“Last year we saw double digit decreases in shootings and homicides,” Saygh said. “In the first two months this year we have also seen double digit decreases in shootings and homicides. We are making progress and having our state troopers helps to drive down gun violence.”

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

Nicholas Katzban is a staff writer for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network New Jersey. Email: katzban@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson state trooper shot: Man arrested in South Carolina, charged