UPDATED: AG’s Office Investigating Fatal Police-Involved Shooting in Hillsborough

***UPDATED INFORMATION INCLUDING IDENTITY OF DECEDENT AND OFFICERS***

For Immediate Release: October 18, 2021

Office of The Attorney General
– Andrew J. Bruck, Acting Attorney General
Office of Public Integrity and Accountability
– Thomas J. Eicher, Executive Director

For Further Information:

Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
OAGpress@njoag.gov

Hillsborough, N.J. – The Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation of a police-involved shooting that occurred on Sept. 28, 2021 in Hillsborough, N.J. One male civilian sustained fatal injuries. No one else was injured.

The decedent has been identified as Patrick Chin, 43, who lived at the address where the shooting occurred.

According to the preliminary investigation, five uniformed officers of the Hillsborough Township Police Department responded to Mr. Chin’s residence on Piedmont Path at approximately 4:10 p.m. on Sept. 28 in response to a request that the police check on the welfare of Mr. Chin. When the officers arrived, they encountered Mr. Chin inside the home, holding an approximately three-foot long sword. During the encounter, Officer George Kokinakous fired his service weapon, fatally wounding Mr. Chin. Officers and medical personnel rendered first aid to Mr. Chin, who was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 5:28 p.m.

The four other officers of the Hillsborough Township Police Department who were at the scene at the time of the shooting have been identified as Officer Robert Feriello, Officer Thomas Gurba, Officer Kyle Edmonds, and Officer Dylan Ely. Officer Feriello deployed OC spray at Mr. Chin during the incident.

This investigation is being conducted pursuant to Attorney General Directive 2019-4, which implements the statutory requirement that the Attorney General’s Office conduct the investigation of any death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody, and which establishes clear standards and procedures for conducting such investigations.

The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.

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