Family of man fatally shot by Asbury Park police says shooting was ‘unjustified’

Asbury Park, N.J – The family of Hasani Best, who was fatally shot by Asbury Park police, said that his killing was unjustified and has called for the officer responsible to be criminally charged.

Family of Hasani Best wants justice

Best,39, was killed in Asbury Park after police responded to a domestic dispute. He was shot after he refused to relinquish a knife he was holding, according to authorities. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office released body camera videos Tuesday capturing the events that led to the fatal shooting.

The footage comes after the family of Best demanded the attorney general to release body camera video and audio earlier this month, NJ.com reported.

“They (police) didn’t have to take his life,” said Carol Sanders, mother of Hasani Best during a press conference on Wednesday.

“They was laughing and joking with him one minute and then they shot him through the door, through his chest and in his stomach, and killed him.”

“It was not justified, at all. It wasn’t justified,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “No, he didn’t deserve that.”

According to authorities, multiple Asbury Park police officers arrived on Aug. 21 to a two-family residence in the 900 block of 4th Avenue due to “a loud domestic dispute.”

Upon arrival, authorities said, the woman was outside while Best barricaded himself in the upstairs apartment. Officers tried to negotiate with Best through the door for nearly an hour, but Best reportedly opened the door at various times brandishing a knife, authorities said.

When authorities said Hasani Best wouldn’t drop the knife, they attempted to use a Taser, but it was ineffective. At around 10:10 p.m., an officer fatally shot Best, according to documents obtained by NJ Advance Media.

Best died at Jersey Shore University Hospital about 20 minutes later.

“They need to tell us why they decided to negotiate with him for 60 minutes and then decided to kill him,” Kay White, mother of Hasani Best’s son, told NJ.com.

The Attorney General’s Office identified the police officer who shot Best as Asbury Park police Sgt. Sean DeShader, a veteran officer who was named the city’s Police Officer of the Year in 2016.

DeShader currently is on administrative duty, a police department spokesman said in an email to the Houston Chronicle. The department declined comment on the contents of the video.

The state attorney general’s office is investigating the shooting and will present the video and other evidence to a grand jury when the probe is concluded. The grand jury will ultimately decide whether criminal charges should be filed against any of the officers.

“The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time,” the AG’s office said in a news release distributing the footage.