By S.P. Sullivan
nj.com
PATERSON, N.J. — A man accused of “ambushing” two New Jersey state troopers, shooting one in the leg, was arrested Friday in South Carolina, authorities said.
Jocquise R. Timmons, 28, allegedly opened fire on the pair of troopers, who were investigating a reported break-in early Thursday morning in Paterson, New Jersey’s third-largest city, authorities said.
He is being charged with two counts of attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of unlawful weapons possession.
Timmons was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in South Carolina, Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced at a late Friday afternoon press conference at the State Police regional headquarters in Newark.
Platkin said Timmons, a suspect in the break-in, “ambushed and fired on two troopers driving unmarked vehicles” in the area of East 26th Street and 9th Avenue in Paterson around 1 a.m. Thursday. The gunfire hit both vehicles and struck one of the troopers in the leg.
A trooper on the scene applied a tourniquet to the wound and the injured trooper was rushed to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson, where he underwent surgery and is now recovering.
Timmons was caught on a nearby surveillance camera stepping out from behind a parked car, taking a “shooting stance” and firing upon the troopers’ vehicles as they followed another car believed connected to the attempted break-in, authorities said.
“Thankfully, Mr. Timmons did not succeed in the attempted murder of these two troopers,” the attorney general said. “But it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying.”
He called the shooting “a chilling reminder” of the dangers police face.
“Yesterday, one of our own fell victim to the very crime he was working to prevent,” Platkin said. Police say they recovered the 10mm Glock handgun used in the shooting.
Platkin declined to identify the trooper or provide any biographical details, citing concern for his safety.
On Thursday, officials in Paterson said a person was in custody and several others were still being sought. But Timmons was not arrested until Friday afternoon and authorities at the press conference said he was the lone shooter. Asked whether another person had been brought into custody, Platkin said that he “can’t comment on an active investigation.”
Col. Patrick Callahan, the head of the State Police, credited a national dragnet that led to Timmons’ location.
“Since those shots rang out, there have been investigators across the whole spectrum of law enforcement that have not gone home,” he said.
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