Reid family wants federal probe

The family of a Cumberland County man fatally shot by police last year on Saturday called for a federal investigation, following a grand jury decision last week in which the officers were not criminally charged.

Jerame Reid, 36, was shot during a Dec. 30 traffic stop in Bridgeton. In a statement Thursday on the grand jury decision, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office said that Officer Braheme Days felt in imminent danger when he opened fire.

Reid's family and a civil rights activist have said Reid, who was unarmed when he was shot, was the one in danger.

"We all felt that the prosecutor's office acted as a defense attorney" justifying the officers, "instead of seeking out the wrongdoing of these officers," said Walter Hudson, chairman of the Salem County-based civil rights group National Awareness Alliance. He held a news conference with Reid's family on Saturday.

Hudson said he plans to deliver a letter this week to Paul Fishman, U.S. attorney for New Jersey, asking for an investigation into the case from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

Harold Shapiro, Cumberland's first assistant prosecutor who handled the probe, declined to comment Saturday.

The calls for a federal investigation come as police departments receive heavy scrutiny around the country, particularly following deadly encounters in cities such as New York and Ferguson, Mo., where grand juries also declined to charge the officers for the deaths of suspects.

The shooting of Reid garnered national attention in January when dashboard-camera footage was released showing Days yelling at Reid, "You reach for something, you're going to be [expletive] dead."

Reid was unarmed, but Days had removed a handgun from the glove compartment of the vehicle before the shots began.

Days told investigators he feared Reid was about to grab the handgun back or pull another weapon from inside the car. No additional weapon was discovered.

Days began shooting when Reid opened the passenger-side door and started to exit the vehicle. Days had told him to stay inside. Reid had told the officer he was getting out and onto the ground.

Days fired seven shots, some of which struck Reid's heart, chest, and arm. Officer Roger Worley also fired a shot but did not hit Reid.

Days is black, as was Reid. Worley is white.

Days called Reid by his first name during the stop. In August 2014, the officer had arrested Reid for resisting arrest. Reid also had a prior conviction for shooting at state troopers, which Days and Worley knew about.

The vehicle Reid was a passenger in was initially stopped for allegedly running a stop sign. The driver was still in the car when the shots erupted but was not struck. The prosecutor's office did not identify him.

Days and Worley remain on paid administrative leave.