Police officer-involved shooting in Butler, authorities say

BUTLER -- A 23-year-old man who was shot by police Thursday evening in the Belleview Terrace home he shares with his grandparents had a history of trouble with the law for theft, burglary and narcotics and was put on 30 months' probation last year in Morris County for burglary.

The shooting involved a member of the Butler Police Department, according to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, which said it received a report at 7:30 p.m. about a Butler police officer discharging his weapon during an incident.

The Prosecutor's Office did not identify the man who was shot, nor the officer involved, but neighbors said the wounded man is Dylan Hannah, who turned 23 in March.

The Prosecutor's Office also has not immediately released the circumstances that led to the shooting,nor stated the condition of the wounded man. Several residents of the neighborhood, where homes are closely-situated to each other, said police earlier in the day were searching for Hannah, some using canines.

As of 1:30 p.m. Friday, a nursing supervisor at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson said that Hannah was in the medical intensive care unit but she said she was not authorized to give his condition. A spokeswoman for the medical center was not immediately available.

"He's a good kid, actually, bottom line. Just got into trouble with drugs, as simple as that," next-door neighbor Marilyn Russin said.   "It's very sad. No matter what happened, he's somebody's son."

Butler Mayor Robert Alviene said that "out of fairness," he did not want to comment on the incident until the Prosecutor's Office conducted its investigation.

Court records in Morris County show that Hannah, who also lived at times in Jefferson Township, pleaded guilty in December to a disorderly persons offense of theft by unlawful taking.  In July of 2015, he was placed on probation for 30 months after he pleaded guilty to burglary.  Court records show he was charged at least four times between 2011 and 2014 with narcotics and burglary offenses but one narcotics charge was dismissed in 2013 and one in 2014 was downgraded to a municipal court-level offense.

Russin, 63, said Hannah lived with his grandparents at 3 Belleview Terrace since he was an infant. She said that Hannah essentially was a soft-spoken young man but had trouble with the law. The home is listed as owned by Ann King in county tax records.

"He's a good-looking boy. He always gave me a hug and he would do my snow," Russin said.

She said the shooting occurred in the basement of the home and that the grandmother fainted afterwards.  Earlier in the day, Russin said, she was in her yard and overheard police speaking to the grandmother about the whereabouts of her grandson but the grandmother said he wasn't home.

Referring to the exchange between the wanted man's grandmother and police, hours before the shooting, Russin said: "She wouldn't let them in, a cell number she wouldn't give them, but they have all that."

Russin's daughter, Nikki, 22, said she arrived home to see a police officer running up the home's driveway with a medical bag, followed by the arrival of multiple other police and emergency workers.  Nikki Russin said she had learned that police were looking during the afternoon for the neighbor in connection with an alleged church burglary.

Neither Russin heard gunshots but said the wounded man, whom they identified as Dylan Hannah, was taken from the home on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face.

Nikki Russin said she could see the grandmother after the shooting, from a window of her home into the living room of 3 Belleview Terrace.

"She was on her knees, crying."  She said the grandfather stood nearby.

Butler police also issued a release five years ago which stated that Hannah had allegedly used a pellet gun to shoot out a neighbor's window on West Belleview Avenue.  Police had an active warrant for Hannah at the time and entered his home on Belleview Terrace. They initially could not find him but then heard a cell phone alert in the basement coming from a pile of clothing and found Hannah hiding under the clothes. Police said at the time that Hannah was combative and they had to use pepper spray to subdue him.

On Friday, longtime resident Steve Silversey said he saw a young neighborhood man he has known from infancy run through yards around 4 p.m. Thursday and they made eye contact for a few seconds.  He said the youth has had a troubled past with substance abuse problems and had worked at a barbershop for awhile.

Silversey said police came to his house after the shooting and questioned him at length.  He said he did not hear any shots but saw swarms of police later in the evening.

Resident Dorothy Coiro, who lives on the corner of the street, said she saw police with canines searching through backyards about five or six hours before the shooting.

"Around 6 or 7 p.m., there were suddenly a lot of police and an ambulance.  A lot of commotion," she said.  Coiro said she later saw police escorting who she believes to be the wounded man's grandmother, to an ambulance.

The Morris County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Section is assisting with the investigation, in consultation with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, according to Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp.

Over the past year and in conjunction with the state Division of Criminal Justice, Knapp has been meeting with Morris County clergy to apprise them of uniform statewide procedures and practices for investigating and reviewing police use-of-force incidents. He's been creating a dialogue with clergy members as leaders in the community who could help defuse potential tensions in police-involved shootings.

When a municipal police officer is involved in a use-of-force incident, the county prosecutor conducts the investigation and the police department that employs the officer must be walled off from any involvement. At the end of the investigation, the prosecutor has to determine whether the case should be presented to a grand jury or whether such a presentation is unnecessary because "the undisputed facts indicate that the use of force was justifiable under the law," according to the Attorney General directive.

If the prosecutor decides a case does not have to be presented to a grand jury, that determination is independently reviewed by the Attorney General/Division of Criminal Justice. The Attorney General could decide a grand jury presentation is necessary; that the officer's conduct was be reviewed administratively; or additional investigation is warranted.

Where a case is not presented to a grand jury, or where a grand jury votes that no criminal charges should be filed, the county prosecutor or Division of Criminal Justice MUST issue a public statement setting forth findings of the investigation and findings regarding justification for use of force.

 Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.