Family of man shot by police: Our son would never stab a cop
ATLANTIC CITY — Family and friends of a man fatally shot by police on Friday night find it hard to believe he would have a knife — let alone stab an officer.
Timothy Deal stabbed an Atlantic City police officer in the torso on Friday night at the scene of a hit-and-run crash on Kentucky Avenue in an unprovoked attack, according to Atlantic County prosecutor Damon Tyner. A preliminary investigation concluded that the officer, whose identity was not disclosed, fired his weapon and ended the attack, the prosecutor's office said.
The officer was treated and released for undisclosed injuries; Deal died from an undisclosed number of gunshot wounds. Authorities have not detailed the exact circumstances of the stabbing or the shooting.
Tyner said in a statement Deal was not involved with the hit-and-run crash but has not revealed additional details about what led to the stabbing and shooting.
About 100 friends and family members that marched outside of Atlantic City Public Safety Building on Sunday demanded more information about the incident including body cam footage, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
"No mother or father should never have to see there child go this way and not by what they call 'the brothers in blue.' Their has to be accountability for these senseless acts of violence and hatred coming from law enforcement sworn to uphold the law," reads A GoFundMe page created to help Deal's family. "Our children are daily being taken away from and most of the time for no reason at all."
The page called the incident a "senseless act of violence from the Atlantic City police, the same police who took a oath to protect and serve the citizens instead they are constantly killing people all over the cities and being allowed to get away with it most of the time."
An officer reported shots being fired to a dispatcher in audio from the hit-and-run incident posted by the news site BreakingAC.com. The officer then said he "might" have been stabbed.
The dispatcher called for the prosecutor's office to be contacted. Per policy the state Attorney General's office will investigate the shooting .
Deal's father told the Press of Atlantic that it was not in his son's demeanor to attack a police officer. Deal's aunt told the newspaper her nephew was shot seven times.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office has yet to return a message regarding the incident.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ