A man was fatally shot by law enforcement after he gulped a drink, smoked a cigarette and shot a dog that was with him, according to NBC4.
New Jersey troopers Joshua Machuca and Eduardo Tejada responded to a call in early November about a car that have skidded into a ditch at around 1:30 A.M. Troopers saw the vehicle perpendicular to the road and asked 34-year-old Timothy Parks if he was okay, NBC4 reported.
The pair proceeded with caution after Parks failed to respond to the troopers. One trooper yelled at Parks to “keep your hands in the front” and another told him “don’t touch that,” according to law enforcement footage released by the New Jersey attorney general’s office. It’s unclear what they were referring to, NBC4 reported. (RELATED: New Jersey Cop Arrested In Atlantic City For Trying To Meet Up With Underage Girls For Sex)
Footage showed Parks taking a swig of a drink and after he pulled out what appeared to be a cigarette, a trooper continued to tell him to keep his hands visible. “Hey! Don’t touch the gun,” one of the troopers said as music grew louder.
The attorney general’s office said the troopers shot Parks shortly after he had fired a gun at his dog and killing him, according to NBC4. The troopers began to perform chest compressions after Parks fell out of his car. The 34-year-old Pennsylvanian was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital but died that night, NBC4 reported.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said an investigation has been launched and is ongoing, NBC4 reported.