Off-Duty Police Officer Killed in New Jersey By FERNANDA SANTOS and NATE SCHWEBER The New York Times (Jan. - An off-duty police officer in Paterson, N.J., was killed early yesterday at a restaurant there when a man shot him after he refused to give up his wallet, the authorities said.
The officer, Tyron D. Franklin, a 23-year-old rookie, was accosted as he stepped up to the counter at Broadway Fried Chicken about 1:15 a.m. in a section of Paterson just east of the Passaic River, the police said.
The gunman did not show his weapon at first but demanded the officer’s money and tried to grab his wallet, the police said.
When the officer refused, the man took out his gun and started shooting, hitting Officer Franklin “several times” and a 42-year-old restaurant patron at least once, said Detective Lt. Anthony Traina, a police spokesman. The gunman fled in a minivan or sport utility vehicle, Lieutenant Traina said.
The patron, whom the police did not identify, was hospitalized last night, Lieutenant Traina said. Two people who were working at the restaurant at the time were not hurt, he said.
Officer Franklin was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center at 2:05 a.m. He was in plain clothes and was not carrying his weapon, Lieutenant Traina said.
The authorities were not sure last night if he had identified himself as a police officer during the confrontation.
Officer Franklin is the second Paterson police officer to be killed in a decade, and the first person to be murdered in the city this year, Mayor José Torres said.
State Police troopers, Passaic County sheriff’s deputies and officers from Paterson and several neighboring communities scoured the city and surrounding areas yesterday in search of the gunman, but as of last night, they had not made an arrest.
Officer Franklin had a 16-month-old son, Tyron Jr., whom he called T.J., the police and relatives said.
Officer Franklin grew up dreaming of becoming a police officer, even as his father, Larry, tried to encourage him to join the Paterson Fire Department, where his father had worked for two decades and became the first black man to rise to the rank of captain, according to neighbors, officials and friends.
“My son always wanted to be a policeman,” Mr. Franklin said as he stood outside the ranch-style home in Westwood, N.J., where he lives with his wife and children.
The family moved there from Paterson in the mid-1990s, when Officer Franklin was in eighth grade, his father said. Officer Franklin had still lived with his family.
“He was very proud of his job. There was nothing more he wanted to do,” Mr. Franklin said.
Officer Franklin graduated in 2001 from Westwood Regional High School, where he was a member of the football and wrestling teams.
He graduated from the Police Academy in April and joined the patrol division, a job that paid about $28,000 a year, Police Chief James Wittig said.
“He was a respectable, pleasant young man,” Chief Wittig said. “He always had a smile on his face.”
Chris Speights, a close friend of Officer Franklin’s, said he once asked his friend what it was like to be a police officer in Paterson, a city of 150,000 troubled by drug and gang violence. “It’s real tough out there,” the officer replied, according to Mr. Speights.
Officer Franklin’s mother, Belinda, worried so much about him that she once asked fellow parishioners at Lebanon Baptist Church in Westwood to pray for him, said one of the parishioners, Nina Lewis, 43.
“What’s ironic is that he’s killed off-duty,” Ms. Lewis said.
Officer Franklin had the day off and went on to visit a friend in Paterson hours before his death, said Lieutenant Traina, the police spokesman. The officer and his friend drove to the restaurant together; she stayed in the car while he went inside.
People who live and work near the restaurant, in an area the police described as plagued by drug dealing and prostitution, said they heard five or six shots.
Officer Down: Tyron D. Franklin - [Paterson, New Jersey]
photo pending Biographical Info Age: 23 Additional Info: Officer Tyron D. Franklin graduated from the Police Academy in April 2006. He is survived by a 16-month-old son and his mother. Incident Details
Cause of Death: Franklin was shot and killed while off-duty at a restaurant when a man shot him after he refused to give up his wallet Date of Incident: January 7, 2007
Off-Duty officer killed at New Jersey restaurant By FERNANDA SANTOS and NATE SCHWEBER PATERSON, NJ -- An off-duty police officer in Paterson, N.J., was killed early yesterday at a restaurant there when a man shot him after he refused to give up his wallet, the authorities said. The officer, Tyron D. Franklin, a 23-year-old rookie, was accosted as he stepped up to the counter at Broadway Fried Chicken about 1:15 a.m. in a section of Paterson just east of the Passaic River, the police said. The gunman did not show his weapon at first but demanded the officer’s money and tried to grab his wallet, the police said. When the officer refused, the man took out his gun and started shooting, hitting Officer Franklin “several times” and a 42-year-old restaurant patron at least once, said Detective Lt. Anthony Traina, a police spokesman. The gunman fled in a minivan or sport utility vehicle, Lieutenant Traina said. The patron, whom the police did not identify, was hospitalized last night, Lieutenant Traina said. Two people who were working at the restaurant at the time were not hurt, he said. Officer Franklin was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center at 2:05 a.m. He was in plain clothes and was not carrying his weapon, Lieutenant Traina said. The authorities were not sure last night if he had identified himself as a police officer during the confrontation. Officer Franklin is the second Paterson police officer to be killed in a decade, and the first person to be murdered in the city this year, Mayor José Torres said. State Police troopers, Passaic County sheriff’s deputies and officers from Paterson and several neighboring communities scoured the city and surrounding areas yesterday in search of the gunman, but as of last night, they had not made an arrest. Officer Franklin had a 16-month-old son, Tyron Jr., whom he called T.J., the police and relatives said. Officer Franklin grew up dreaming of becoming a police officer, even as his father, Larry, tried to encourage him to join the Paterson Fire Department, where his father had worked for two decades and became the first black man to rise to the rank of captain, according to neighbors, officials and friends. “My son always wanted to be a policeman,” Mr. Franklin said as he stood outside the ranch-style home in Westwood, N.J., where he lives with his wife and children. The family moved there from Paterson in the mid-1990s, when Officer Franklin was in eighth grade, his father said. Officer Franklin had still lived with his family. “He was very proud of his job. There was nothing more he wanted to do,” Mr. Franklin said. Officer Franklin graduated in 2001 from Westwood Regional High School, where he was a member of the football and wrestling teams. He graduated from the Police Academy in April and joined the patrol division, a job that paid about $28,000 a year, Police Chief James Wittig said. “He was a respectable, pleasant young man,” Chief Wittig said. “He always had a smile on his face.” Chris Speights, a close friend of Officer Franklin’s, said he once asked his friend what it was like to be a police officer in Paterson, a city of 150,000 troubled by drug and gang violence. “It’s real tough out there,” the officer replied, according to Mr. Speights. Officer Franklin’s mother, Belinda, worried so much about him that she once asked fellow parishioners at Lebanon Baptist Church in Westwood to pray for him, said one of the parishioners, Nina Lewis, 43. “What’s ironic is that he’s killed off-duty,” Ms. Lewis said. Officer Franklin had the day off and went on to visit a friend in Paterson hours before his death, said Lieutenant Traina, the police spokesman. The officer and his friend drove to the restaurant together; she stayed in the car while he went inside. People who live and work near the restaurant, in an area the police described as plagued by drug dealing and prostitution, said they heard five or six shots. Jonathan Miller contributed reporting.
Posted by: kwflatbed
Young New Jersey Officer Thrived on Excitement
By ED BEESON, SAMANTHA HENRY, SCOTT FALLON, WILLIAM LAMB and DEENA YELLIN Herald News, Wire Service
A clue to the character of slain Paterson police Officer Tyron D. Franklin echoed in the words of his high school sweetheart, the mother of his toddler son. Christina Imperato,20, of Washington Township, recalled Monday how she once asked Franklin, her boyfriend of six and a half years, what he would do if someone tried to rob him. Would he surrender his wallet? "Nope," she said Franklin told her. "They would have to fight me for it. Have to fight me for my wallet." The high school wrestler in Franklin craved action. But the rookie cop inside him might have made the fatal mistake of resisting a robber. Franklin was shot several times early Sunday, after refusing to hand over his wallet to a gunman. He was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, where he died less than an hour later. "I didn't get to give him a kiss goodbye," Imperato said. Franklin grew up on East 29th Street, on a tranquil block with the tides of negative influence lapping at its edges. Neighbors there said he was equally devoted to a little sister he would walk home from school each day and to his older brother, who drifted toward the streets at almost the same time as Franklin started on a path toward the Police Department. Neighbors recalled a boy who would ride his bike up and down the street, always turning around a few houses shy of the corners ? as if to respect an unseen boundary that didn't let him stray far from home. "He'd always be playing outside," said Michael Jeffreys, who lived across the street from the Franklins growing up. At the time of his death, Franklin was living with his parents in Westwood, but kept an apartment in Paterson for late nights on the job, or on the town with friends. The family settled on an Eastside block that neighbors described as one of hard-working families, proud homeowners, and lots of children. At one end of the street lived a local pastor and his family; at the other end, a police officer. In the middle of the block, the Franklin family; Tyron's father, Larry, would become the city's first black fire captain, and a pioneer in recruiting more minorities into the uniformed services. Neighbors said the Franklins were devoted to their children and were active members of the community. "Larry used to take them up to East Side Park, they was always going places; one year to Disney World," Jeffreys said. "They always went somewhere in the summertime on vacation." Franklin was one of 32 rookie cops who joined the Police Department in April after completing training with the Passaic County Police Academy. His father had encouraged Tyron to become a firefighter. Larry Franklin told 1010 WINS radio Monday he was proud of his son's choice. "He had a choice, (and) he chose to become a policeman," Larry Franklin said. "He was very proud of his job." Signs of Franklin's promise were evident early, according to several people who watched him grow up. Dwayne Maultsby, a teacher at the Martin Luther King Jr. School in Paterson, still keeps a group project that Franklin completed for an eighth-grade social studies class. Students were asked to create a country and draft a constitution, bill of rights and set of laws. Franklin and his cohorts named their nation "Guessville," after Guess Jeans, Maultsby recalled. Franklin was elected king of the make-believe country. "He was a good student and a nice person; that's what stood out to me the most," Maultsby said. Franklin played basketball and football and ran track at Westwood Regional High School. He joined the wrestling team as a junior, making an immediate impression with his raw talent, work ethic and quirky personality, his wrestling coach, Mike Attanasio, said Monday. It was during his days at Westwood Regional that Franklin met Imperato. He was dating her best friend. She was dating his. It didn't take long before they realized they enjoyed each other's company more than anyone else's. The two began dating, which usually meant a horror movie and air hockey at the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack, N.Y. "We saw 'Saw III' together, and that was the only movie I ever saw him get scared in," Imperato said. "We were hugging each other." After high school, Franklin wanted to become a cop, but he wasn't interested in patrolling sleepy suburbs. "He wanted to go to Paterson because he wanted to be where the action was," Imperato said. When his son, T.J., was born, the couple moved into Franklin's parent's basement for a short time. Imperato would iron his uniform each morning and help Franklin get into his bulletproof vest. At home, Franklin obsessed over his comic book and toy collection so much that he wanted to put it in a glass display case. He planned to give the collection to T.J. some day. But he died before that could happen. A Paterson police officer stationed at the Franklin's Westwood home told reporters that the family was not speaking to the press. An engraved memorial in the family's front yard spoke to their grief. Sitting against the trunk of the towering but leafless tree, the engraved stone read: "If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again."
Staff Writers Rich Cowan, Matthew Van Dusen, Maya Kremen and Dave Sheingold contributed to this article.
T.J., the son of fallen Paterson, N.J. police officer Tyron Franklin, wears a Paterson police officer uniform to his father's funeral, Saturday. Officers from surrounding municipalities came to pay their respects to the family. Franklin, 23, while off-duty, was shot to death early Sunday and another man was wounded during an apparent botched robbery at a restaurant. A $60,000 reward has been posted as police are still searching for his killer. (AP Photo/Tariq Zehawi, Pool)
Posted by: tprdr
Showed the flag on Saturday morning in honor of our fallen brother along with thousands of our brother and sister officers.
God rest his Soul, our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Posted by: Inspector
PATERSON -- The 23-year-old Irvington man arrested early Tuesday in the murder of Paterson police Officer Tyron D. Franklin will face the death penalty if he is convicted, according to Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano.
Teddy Charlemagne, also known as Maurice Noles, has four previous convictions. He was charged with shooting Franklin Jan. 7 at Broadway Fried Chicken. He also faces weapons possession charges and was being held in the Passaic County Jail on $2 million bail.
The announcement of Charlemagne's arrest ended the 10-day manhunt for Franklin's murderer by Paterson police and other law enforcement agencies. Police zeroed in on Charlemagne after receiving the last of 151 calls from the public about the case, all of which were investigated by a team of detectives.
Chief James Wittig said some detectives during the past week "had to be told to go home. They were sleeping in their chairs and taking power naps."
In order for a capital prosecution to proceed in New Jersey, a grand jury must find that at least one of a dozen possible aggravating factors existed at the time of a murder.
Prosecutor Avigliano said at least two such factors apply in this case: Franklin was a police officer -- although police declined to say if he identified himself as such -- and was killed during the commission of a robbery. New Jersey has not had an execution since 1963 and is weighing a study panel's recommendation this month to abolish the death penalty.
Posted by: JoninNH
Execute the little fucker.
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T.J., the son of fallen Paterson, N.J. police officer Tyron Franklin, wears a Paterson police officer uniform to his father's funeral, Saturday. Officers from surrounding municipalities came to pay their respects to the family. Franklin, 23, while off-duty, was shot to death early Sunday and another man was wounded during an apparent botched robbery at a restaurant. A $60,000 reward has been posted as police are still searching for his killer. (AP Photo/Tariq Zehawi, Pool) 
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