Tuesday 21 December 2021

NJ man 'bent on destruction' hijacks a backhoe excavator and turns over ambulance and police car before being shot dead by a cop

 A man was shot and killed by a police officer at a New Jersey mobile home park over the weekend after neighbors say he hijacked a backhoe and used it to damage and flip over several vehicles, including a patrol car and an ambulance. 

A Vineland Police Department officer opened fire during the encounter at the Penn Lincoln Mobile Home Park at around 5.30am on Saturday, the New Jersey attorney general’s office said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene less than 20 minutes later.

As of Tuesday morning, the suspect's name has not been made public.  

Neighbors told reporters that before the pre-dawn shooting, the backhoe driver overturned several cars, including a police SUV and an ambulance. 


A hijacked backhoe is seen in a woman's cellphone video ramming a police SUV during a chaotic incident in Vineland, New Jersey, early Saturday

A hijacked backhoe is seen in a woman's cellphone video ramming a police SUV during a chaotic incident in Vineland, New Jersey, early Saturday 

The backhoe flips over the SUV, as seen in cellphone video recorded by eyewitness Aida Morales

The backhoe flips over the SUV, as seen in cellphone video recorded by eyewitness Aida Morales

The backhoe is seen smashing into another police vehicle and a woman's red sedan at the Penn Lincoln Mobile Home Park

The backhoe is seen smashing into another police vehicle and a woman's red sedan at the Penn Lincoln Mobile Home Park

Shocked neighbors described the incident and its aftermath as 'something out of a movie.' Pictured: an overturned vehicle and a badly damaged sedan are in the middle of the road

Shocked neighbors described the incident and its aftermath as 'something out of a movie.' Pictured: an overturned vehicle and a badly damaged sedan are in the middle of the road  


Cellphone video recorded by eyewitness Aida Morales shows the backhoe ramming the police vehicle and overturning it. 

'Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my goodness,' a woman exclaims off camera. 

When the backhoe pivots and appears to pursue another police SUV, the witness record the video cries out: 'run, run, run, go! He's after you, go!' 

The driver also inflicted significant damage to another police SUV and a woman's red Toyota sedan, and destroyed the front porch of a nearby home.

Morales described the chaotic scene to Fox 29 'like something out of a movie.' 

Theresa Jeffrey told 6abc Action News she was driving her red Toyota sedan on her way to work when the backhoe crashed into her multiple times. 

The stolen backhoe is seen in Vineland following the officer-involved shooting. The driver of the vehicle has not been named

The stolen backhoe is seen in Vineland following the officer-involved shooting. The driver of the vehicle has not been named 

An ambulance is seen resting on its side after being flipped over by the backhoe

An ambulance is seen resting on its side after being flipped over by the backhoe 

Theresa Jeffrey told local outlets she was driving to work when the backhoe smashed into her red Toyota, badly damaging the car and leaving her traumatized

Theresa Jeffrey told local outlets she was driving to work when the backhoe smashed into her red Toyota, badly damaging the car and leaving her traumatized 

Jeffrey said she was not physically harmed, but the experience has traumatized her.

'I cry every day, and I get headaches, I can't sleep. I can't eat,' she said. 'It's so stressful. He could have killed me.' 

Another neighbor, Diane Trout, told WCAU-TV of the violent incident's aftermath: 'it’s like a hurricane came through here. Just total destruction.'

She said she is friends with the woman whose front porch was destroyed, and the backhoe also ripped a hole in the front of the home.

Three Vineland police officer suffered minor injuries during the incident

Three Vineland police officer suffered minor injuries during the incident 

'I feel so bad for her, she was upset and crying,' Trout said. 'It’s Christmas!'

Authorities have not officially connected the shooting to the destruction described by the neighbors and haven’t released the man’s name or other details.

Three Vineland officers were treated for minor injuries. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is investigating, as is required by law in deaths during encounters with law enforcement.

DailyMail.com on Tuesday reached out to the office, seeking comment on the incident and the investigation.   

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