Man Indicted in Newark Police Officer’s Slaying

A Newark man has been indicted on murder charges in the drive-by shooting death of an off-duty city police officer who was shot while buying pizza at a fast-food restaurant.

Twenty-one-year-old Rasul McNeil-Thomas also faces charges of carjacking, endangerment, aggravated assault and weapons offenses in the indictment handed up by an Essex County grand jury. It was made public Tuesday.

Prosecutors say McNeil-Thomas and another suspect stole a car at gunpoint and used it in the May 2011 shooting that ended with the death of William Johnson. He was waiting at the counter of Texas Fried Chicken and Pizza when the shooting occurred, and authorities say the 45-year-old officer was not the intended target.

Two other customers were wounded in the shooting, but have since recovered.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)