A courageous local New Jersey police officer responded appropriately when he fired a single shot to neutralize an agitated man wielding a rifle and threatening a female homeowner, as determined by a state grand jury.
Daniel Nevius, 55, from Sicklerville, aimed his rifle at the police before Deptford Police Officer Luke Ivey intervened, announced New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
According to state law and Platkin’s directives, his Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) undertakes investigations into police-involved fatalities, ensuring thoroughness, impartiality, and transparency, free from any political or personal biases from prosecutors.
Following the completion of the OPIA investigation, the findings were presented to the grand jury, Platkin stated.
The grand jury meticulously reviewed a plethora of evidence, including witness testimonies, body and dashcam recordings, and autopsy reports, ultimately concluding that the officer’s actions were justified, Platkin affirmed.
The fatal encounter in January 2023 was captured on various recordings, including footage from the officer’s body camera and a surveillance camera focused on the residence, which Platkin released last year.
The surveillance footage, obtained from a motion-activated camera, yielded intermittent video files of the incident, Platkin explained.
The bodycam recordings commence and conclude before and after the shooting incident.
Nevius arrived in a Jeep at a residence on Fox Run Road in Deptford Township, Gloucester County, approximately 10 miles south of Camden, on the afternoon of January 22, 2023.
After deliberately crashing the Jeep into a parked SUV, he reversed and rammed it again, yelling and swearing as he did so, before driving away.
A woman and another individual emerged from the house with a dog. The woman inspected the damage while on the phone, presumably with a police dispatcher.
Shouting is heard on the video as they retreat into the house, while Nevius returns.
Exiting the Jeep, he falls out, dropping a rifle. The Jeep, still in gear, rolls backward.
“Let’s play, motherf*ckers!” Nevius shouts, scrambling to his feet and retrieving the weapon from the ground.
Approaching the house, he shouts and provokes those inside to come out.
Nevius strikes the SUV’s hood twice with the rifle before assuming a threatening posture, pointing the rifle from waist level at the house, all while continuing to yell.
A sedan arrives shortly thereafter.
Nevius advances toward the vehicle, pointing the rifle, and repeatedly instructs the driver to reverse.
The driver attempts to reason with him before Nevius turns and chases someone back into the house.
“I lost everything, bitch,” he shouts at the residence. “Let’s do this. Let’s do it.”
Nevius removes his jacket before the video skips to the moment police converge on the porch where he lies fatally wounded.
“Shots fired. Shots fired. He’s down,” Ivey announces after incapacitating Nevius. “He pointed the rifle at us. F**k.”
He repeats the expletive multiple times before stating, “He’s down on the porch, down on the porch.”
A colleague approaches Ivey.
“You saw it, right?” Ivey asks him.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. He pointed the gun at us,” the other officer confirms. “Let’s go to the hospital.”
Another officer arrives and discovers Nevius sprawled on his back on the front steps, with blood pooling beneath his head.
Behind him lies the rifle.
The officer requests an ambulance.
“Emergency medical personnel arrived to provide aid to Mr. Nevius, who was pronounced deceased at the scene,” Platkin concluded.