Florida department fires officer accused of fatally shooting Corey Jones
City authorities in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., have fired the officer accused of fatally shooting a stranded motorist last month.
Corey Jones, 31, a public-housing inspector and part-time musician, was waiting for a tow truck at about 3 a.m. on Oct. 18 when he was shot multiple times by officer Nouman Raja, who could still face charges in the case.
The shooting is the latest fatal incident across the country involving police and black men in recent years. National civil rights activists renewed calls for greater law enforcement transparency after local officials were slow to release details about Jones’ death.
Raja, who was in his sixth month with the department, had been conducting surveillance on suspected car break-ins and was wearing plainclothes when he approached Jones on a highway off-ramp. A confrontation ensued, and Raja fired six shots, hitting Jones three times, authorities said.
Palm Beach Gardens police chief Stephen Stepp said Raja, 38, told them he was “suddenly confronted by an armed subject” and fatally shot Jones.
But attorneys for the Jones family say investigators told them that Raja never displayed his badge after pulling up in an unmarked white van with no police light.
Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the victim’s family, said Jones was licensed to carry a concealed gun. A .380 caliber handgun belonging to Jones — found on the ground several feet from his body — had not been fired, Crump said investigators told them.
“While we are pleased that the city of Palm Beach Gardens has terminated the employment of the officer who gunned down Corey Jones, we maintain that the officer in question also must be held criminally liable for his reckless actions that night,” the Jones family said via a statement Thursday. “Our family remains hopeful that the outside agencies brought in to investigate Corey's killing will soon begin to yield factual information about how and why this officer acted so callously.”
The county sheriff, the FBI, and the state attorney are investigating the shooting to determine whether Raja will face criminal charges.
A Palm Beach Gardens press release announcing the firing didn’t mention any wrongdoing. Instead, the city says it had the discretion to terminate Raja because he was a probationary employee in his first year on the job.
“The City of Palm Beach Gardens has been cautiously and methodically considering the employment status of officer Nouman Raja,” stated the press release. “The independent criminal investigation into the officer-involved shooting that occurred on October 18, 2015, is ongoing and the city will continue to cooperate with all agencies involved.”
In an email to Yahoo News, Raja’s attorney, Richard Lubin, declined to comment on the officer’s dismissal. Before joining the Palm Beach Gardens force, Raja worked for seven years with the nearby Atlantis Police Department where he rose to become a supervisor.
Mobile phone records obtained by the Palm Beach Post indicate that Jones had been on a 53-minute call with AT&T roadside assistance at the time of the shooting.
“Through all of the sorrow and pain that accompanied Corey's death, our family is encouraged by the multitude of well-wishers who have reached out to us during this difficult time,” the Jones family said Thursday. “It is obvious that Corey touched many lives, and for that we will be forever grateful.”
(This story has been updated since it originally published.)
Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).
