By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 7, 1990
The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B02
A 32-year-old Teaneck man who shot a neighbor Sunday night and then held his young daughter hostage as “protection” from police used the child the same way in an incident this spring, police said.
As he did Sunday, Shawn Thompson released then 16-month-old Jasmine after a dispute with his wife on June 19 over custody of the child, police said.
Police defused that situation without harm to anyone.
Thompson did not threaten to harm his daughter in either incident, according to police reports.
On Sunday night, Thompson allegedly shot Earl Johnson, a neighbor who apparently was attempting to mediate a dispute between Thompson and his mother.
Johnson, 29, was in critical condition at Holy Name Hospital with a neck wound Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Doctors repaired Johnson’s right jugular vein, but were unable to remove the bullet.
Thompson was being held in the Bergen County Jail Tuesday on $50,000 bail. Teaneck police charged him with aggravated assault and possession of firearms.
The shooting occurred after Hazel Thompson asked police to remove her son from the home they shared at 51 Garden St., police said.
Mrs. Thompson; her companion, Ernest Walters; her father; Jasmine; and Johnson, who lives across the street from the Thompsons at 44 Garden St., were in the house when police arrived.
Both Johnson and Walters had tried unsuccessfully to talk Shawn Thompson into leaving the house, police said.
Johnson took Mrs. Thompson’s father to his home across the street. Mrs. Thompson then left with police to seek a restraining order.
Moments later, police learned that someone had been shot at the house. Johnson had somehow left the house and was taken to the hospital, police said. Thompson had taken his daughter and was talking to police.
“This is one step higher than the last time, and I’m going to take it one step higher,” Sgt. Fred Ahearn said Thompson told him on the phone. “I’m not going to jail, and I know my daughter is my protection.”
But after talking with a relative and with Capt. Gary Fiedler, Thompson released the child and surrendered.
Police, armed with a search warrant, found two rifles, two handguns, and ammunition when they searched the house.
In the June incident, police said Thompson had a dispute with his wife, who had threatened to take the child away.
Thompson, who had taken Jasmine after the dispute, held police at bay for a short time, but then released her to an aunt. He was not charged.
ID: 17322494 | Copyright © 1990, The Record (New Jersey)
Leave a Reply