STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

New Jersey Man Shot Six Times By Police During Roadside Assistance Call

Maurice Gordon, 28, ran out of gas and wound up dead.

Roughly 200 people stood up in the City of Poughkeepsie for a rally and candlelight vigil Monday night, demanding justice for Maurice Gordon, a  28- year-old unarmed Black motorist who was shot six times by a New Jersey state trooper on the Garden State Parkway on May 23 during a roadside assistance call.

A stationary dash cam video of the incident, released 16 days after his death, shows Gordon in the state trooper’s truck, visibly uncomfortable, and leaves the truck to go back to his vehicle while they waited for the tow truck. The officer can be heard yelling “to stay in the f**king car” but a “physical confrontation ensued when Mr. Gordon did not comply,” according to the state’s narrative. The attorney general’s office claims Gordon twice tried to enter the driver’s seat of Wetzel’s patrol car.  

The trooper, identified as Sgt. Wetzel, is then heard yelling for Mr. Gordon to “get out of the f**king car now” which, according to the state’s narrative, was when Gordon first tried to sit in the driver’s seat of Wetzel’s car.

"After shooting Maurice six times and leaving him on the side of the Garden State Parkway, the sergeant handcuffed his mortally wounded body," William Wagstaff, an attorney for Gordon’s family, tells CNN.

Maurice Gordon was 28 years old and lived in Poughkeepsie. He was a chemistry student at Dutchess Community College, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal. His death came two days before that of George Floyd.

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.