Lawyers for 37-year-old Michael A. Bates is requesting that the state Attorney General’s office investigate his encounter with Elizabeth police in December.
According to the preliminary investigation released by the Essex County Prosecutor's Ofice, at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, the Elizabeth Police Department (EPD) received a report of a domestic violence incident.
Police say responding EPD officers encountered Michael Bates, 37, Orange in the area of Court and 3rd Streets.
Elizabeth Police alleged that Bates approached the two responding officers and threatened to harm them.
During this time, the officers discharged their service weapons, striking Bates once police said
EMS transported Bates to University Hospital in Newark for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Police ultimately charged Bates with third-degree making terroristic threats and fourth-degree creating a false public alarm, but officials would not say if Bates actually possessed a weapon.
However police body camera footage released by police, shows officers firing several shots and subduing Bates in the street.
Bates’s attorney has requested a grand jury investigation into the shooting, alleging the officers used excessive and unwarranted use of force.
According to officials, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has been handling the shooting instead of Union County because one of the Elizabeth officers involved reportedly has a professional relationship with the Union County office.