The handgun was reported stolen out of Deptford.
CAMDEN -- Following a review by the state Division of Criminal Justice, the Camden County Police Department (CCPD) has been cleared in the 2014 non-fatal shooting of a city man who got into a gunfight with officers.
Camden resident James Dickerson, who was 28 at the time, exchanged shots with a number of CCPD officers in the Chestnut Court apartment complex. He was later charged with attempted murder and that case is currently awaiting trial.
The division reviewed the Camden County Prosecutor's Office's (CCPO) investigation and agreed that the the use of deadly force was justified and that no charges were pressed against the officers. The prosecutor's office released a statement on its findings as required by a state directive.
Per the statement, police received a 9-1-1 call at around 9:30 p.m. on April 25, 2014, concerning a man with a gun. The first officer to arrive at the scene spotted Dickerson and attempted to stop him by putting his hand on his chest, but Dickerson pushed him out of the way and fired two shots from a previously hidden handgun as he fled.
The second officer to spot Dickerson fired a total of 16 rounds and ordered the man to both stop and drop his weapon -- neither of which happened. Two more officers and a sergeant also spotted Dickerson, with officers firing a number of rounds at him.
"During the exchange of gunfire, Mr. Dickerson was struck by a bullet in the leg and fell to the ground with the gun still in his hand. Officers ordered Mr. Dickerson to release the weapon and he complied, putting his hands on his head," the CCPO statement reads.
Witness statements and surveillance video from the scene appeared to corroborate the accounts provided by the officers. Dickerson fired a total of six shots during the encounter, a state police forensics lab determined. The weapon, a semi-automatic Beretta pistol, was previously reported stolen out of Deptford, the prosecutor's office said.
Dickerson was charged with four counts of attempted murder, twelve counts of aggravated assault and one count each of unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and certain persons not to have weapons, receiving stolen property and obstructing administration of law of other government function.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.