New Jersey attorney general’s office opens investigation into fatal police shooting of Hillsborough resident Patrick Chin
The New Jersey Attorney General’s office is investigating the fatal shooting by a police officer in Hillsborough of resident Patrick Chin, 43.
Police received a request on the afternoon of Sept. 28 to visit Chin’s house on Piedmont Path for a welfare check. Five uniformed officers from the Hillsborough Police Department showed up at Chin’s home at about 4:10 p.m. When they arrived, they encountered Chin inside his home, holding a three-foot-long sword. Officer George Kokinakous fired his gun at Chin during the encounter, fatally wounding him. Officers and medical personnel rendered first aid to Chin, who was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead 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 sprayed pepper spray at Chin during the incident.
The Attorney General’s Office is required to conduct an investigation of any death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while a person is in custody. The investigation is ongoing.
Chin was raised in Voorhees and earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University’s Cook College in 2000. He became an IT technical lead for Merck right out of college. In 2017, he left to become an IT business process analyst for Bristol Myers Squibb. He was promoted to the role of IT business partner in 2020.
An avid board game enthusiast, Chin belonged to the Princeton Board Games Meetup Group. He loved trivia and history and also liked to challenge himself through obstacle course races. He received more than 30 medals for races.
Chin purchased his home in Hillsborough during the pandemic in 2020, and just got married in June.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
Does anyone know if they tried a taser first?
Does anyone know if the police try a stun gun of some sort before firing bullets? Curious about policy on that, if any, recognizing that many circumstances could be dangerous and/or unpredictable.
Such shootings will not stop until there is a change in basic law: If cops shoot someone who is not pointing a gun at them – it is first degree murder. If they so easily feel “threatened” they shouldn’t be a cop and its not a justification for taking someone’s life.
Who called the police? In this day and age, they should have known how those “welfare checks” end up.
I learned he was home alone so who place the 911 call? I’m sure if five officers dressed in uniform showed up at my house on a late afternoon, I wouldn’t be greeting them with a three foot sword in my hands.
But would you let them in?
So many questions here… He was in his own home – how and why did the police enter? Why was he apparently holding a sword, and was he threatening anyone with it? It says he was married a few months ago – where was his wife at this time? Who called 911 and why – were they concerned for his welfare or someone else’s? Why was he fatally shot when he was outnumbered and outarmed? Everything just reads so strangely here…
Fortunately, Hillsborough equipped all police officers with body cameras this past April, so hopefully more answers will be forthcoming.
Agreed. There are so many unanswered questions about this incident. Did someone’s life need to be ended? Did they have a negotiator on scene or just start shooting? Whose life was threatened before the action escalated? So sad.
Sounds like he was swatted. How they get in the house? Should be camera footage. He asian may not be enough community pressure to get it released I just heard of the shooting 5 minutes ago. someone bust through the doot of your house you likely to grab the first thing handy, fo rChin it was his handy Katana. I bet soon as they came face to face the cop drew. See its a welfare check, but they get shi scared on any call. So, the cop sees the long knife and wicked reflex dude is now dead. It will be justified. Podunl Popo and got no better training than to tell the guy put it down. Shoot first and then go home, makes for a safe shift.
Do you know what a samarai sword is? Same as a gun.
He probably thought he was getting home invaded. H picked up the sword for protection and was killed. We assume this because there was not one iota of bad guy in him/ Killer cop does not discern and has no senses to know if someone is a bad guy or not, even when the call was for a welfare check. So, he shoots the guy cause he is holding a sword. Did he tell him drop the sword before plugguing him?
Only the camera can reveal that and I suspect because of the suppression of this shooting it is clearly not only a bad shot, but a dumb one.
I might be wrong, but I am going to assume this is a whitelandia neighborhood, with more than a few Asians, so how many deadly Asian character are around in places where there is a welfare check needed? In other words, take a deep breath, what do you see? Is he moving toward you? Tell him to drop the sword. Still, if he is moving toward you maybe he’s having a mental health issue, you don’t have to kill, to take his life. A bullet in the shoulder of the hand carrying the sword would have suffice, but that would have required deliberation. Police taught shoot first and go home at the end of the shift.