The Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) today released radio recordings and video footage from five police body-worn cameras related to a January 19, 2026, fatal police-involved shooting in Newark, New Jersey. The civilian who died during the encounter had previously been identified as Wali Bey, 42, of Newark.
This fatal police-involved shooting is under investigation by OPIA. The radio recordings and video footage are being released pursuant to policies established by the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 to promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters. Representatives of Mr. Bey’s family were given an opportunity to review the recordings prior to their public release.
According to the investigation, on January 19, 2026, an officer assigned to the Newark Police Department’s Quality-of-Life Unit was conducting surveillance in the area of Ross Street and Thorne Street. A surveilling officer observed suspected narcotics activity and, at approximately 1:09 p.m., that officer radioed the description of two suspect vehicles, including a white Chrysler, and several individuals suspected to be involved in the activity. Plainclothes officers responded to the interaction in unmarked vehicles, and uniformed officers responded in marked police vehicles. One of the officers who responded was Newark Police Officer Nashid Reynolds.
Upon arriving at the intersection at approximately 1:11 p.m., responding officers detained two civilians against the Chrysler and gave verbal commands for the vehicle’s driver, subsequently identified as Mr. Bey, to put his “hands on the dash.” Officer Reynolds assisted an officer detain a separate civilian against his unmarked police vehicle, which was positioned in front of the Chrysler.
The Chrysler then began to reverse. In response, Officer Reynolds ran to the Chrysler, put his hand on the hood of the Chrysler, and yelled at the driver not to move. The Chrysler turned its wheels and moved forward. Officer Reynolds then fired his service weapon multiple times, striking Mr. Bey and another civilian in the Chrysler. The Chrysler continued down Ross Street and crashed into a parked vehicle. Officer Reynolds responded to the vehicle and provided immediate medical aid to Mr. Bey.
Both Mr. Bey and the other wounded civilian were taken to University Hospital in Newark, where Mr. Bey was pronounced deceased at 1:51 p.m. The other wounded civilian was treated and later released. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is handling any criminal charges related to the civilian suspects.
The radio recordings and video footage are available to view here: https://njoag.box.com/s/isv5ki68n1h87vlddf155fta2idy4bu6
A 2019 law, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.
The investigation regarding the fatal police-involved shooting is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.
Further information about how fatal police encounters are investigated in New Jersey under the Independent Prosecutor Directive is posted on the Attorney General’s website
here.
