The South Florida cop who shot and killed a popular musician who was stranded on the side of the road having car trouble was fired Wednesday.
Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja said he was in fear for his life when he killed Corey Jones because the drummer was armed.
However, not only did Jones have a concealed weapons permit, he never fired his gun once. And police have never confirmed whether he even pointed his gun at Raja, which means he likely did not point his gun at the officer.
Also, Raja was not in uniform, not carrying a badge and was not even driving a patrol car when he drove up to Jones’ stranded car pulled off to the side of an exit ramp off Interstate 95 on October 18.
The city of Palm Beach Gardens released the following statement, according to NBC News:
“The City of Palm Beach Gardens has been cautiously and methodically considering the employment status of Officer Nouman Raja,” the city said in a statement. “Therefore, Officer Raja, a probationary employee with the City, has been terminated from employment effective Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 5:00 PM.”
Raja was hired in April after having worked since 2008 at the Atlantis Police Department, which is about ten miles from Palm Beach Gardens.
Although Palm Beach Gardens Police Chief Stephen Stepp initially claimed that Raja had a clean disciplinary record when hiring the officer, it later came out that he had a history of mishandling evidence, including morphine pills which he never turned in.
He was also known to walk around with knives strapped to his legs as a display of intimidation and was quick to use his taser gun on mental patients at the hospital where he was assigned at his previous job.
Jones was on the phone with roadside assistance when he was confronted by Raja. That call lasted almost an hour, according to call logs.
And there is a good chance the entire encounter was audio recorded considering most companies record calls.
The FBI is currently investigating the case, so there is also a chance he could face criminal charges.
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