It may take awhile before the public gets answers in the police shooting of Timothy O’Shea, the son of a former Morris Township cop who was killed last month while wielding an airsoft handgun.
State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Monday the pandemic is holding things up.
“In particular right now, a lot of our investigations get delayed because of the environment we’re in. In fatal officer-involved shootings, we present everyone to a grand jury. There have been no grand juries sitting for at least four months,” Grewal told MorristownGreen.com after an event in Morristown.
“So until and unless those grand juries reconvene, it’s hard for me to give you a timeline, because the law requires us to present every case for a fatal officer-involved shooting to a grand jury,” the attorney general said.
Video: State Attorney Gurbir Grewal on investigation of police shooting in Morris Township:
Courts went virtual in March as coronavirus cases mounted across New Jersey. Court officials plan to gradually resume in-person trials, starting in September.
Experiments with virtual grand juries in Mercer County and in Bergen County, where Grewal formerly served as prosecutor, have raised concerns about the fairness and confidentiality of remote proceedings.
A BERETTA REPLICA
On the afternoon of July 14, 2020, uniformed police from Morris Township, Morris Plains and Morristown rushed to O’Shea’s home on Fairchild Avenue, where a 911 caller reported someone had cut himself and had a gun.
After taking the 911 caller to safety, police encountered O’Shea, 24, who was bleeding and holding a pistol, according to a statement issued by the prosecutor’s attorney general’s office a day after the incident.
One of the officers shot O’Shea, who was pronounced dead about an hour later at Morristown Medical Center. State and local authorities have not identified the shooter, or his department, though knowledgeable sources have told Morristown Green it was Morris Plains.
O’Shea’s weapon was described by the Attorney General’s Office as an “airsoft” replica of a Beretta pistol. Airsoft weapons use a gas propellant and are similar to BB guns, but their less-harmful plastic ammunition has made them popular for target practice, war games, and police- and military training.
The Integrity Bureau of the Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is investigating the shooting. Grewal spoke with MorristownGreen.com after attending an event at the Morristown Green promoting an expansion of Morris Sheriff James Gannon’s Hope One program.
O’Shea was the son of retired Morris Township Police Lt. Kevin O’Shea, who now works as an executive administrative assistant for that police force. The victim’s brother Patrick is a fire inspector for the Township.
Timmy, as the deceased was known, was a good kid who struggled with mental health issues, according to friends and acquaintances who attended his wake. People will miss his “goofy personality and smirky smile,” his obituary suggested.
Born in Morristown and raised in the Township, Timmy attended St. Virgil’s School and Assumption School, graduating from Morris Catholic High School in 2014.
He earned an automotive technician certificate from the Morris County School of Technology, and loved tinkering on his truck and anything mechanical.
His passions included off-roading and jet-skiing with friends. Anything with an engine thrilled him.
“Tim was always ready to help anyone at anytime,” his obituary added.
Timothy Robert O’Shea was predeceased by his grandparents, Thomas O’Shea and Edward and Lorraine Skopic. He is survived by his parents, Kevin and Marianne O’Shea, his sister Kelly O’Brien and her husband Michael, brother Patrick and grandmother Betsey O’Shea, and his faithful dog Bailey.
He also is survived by his stepmother, Pamela O’Shea, and stepbrother Matthew Skrinski, and stepsisters Elizabeth and Kathryn Skrinski.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations in Timmy’s memory be made to St. Hubert’s Giralda or the American Society for Suicide Prevention.
