A grand jury in New Jersey will not file criminal charges against a police officer who shot and killed a man inside an apartment stairwell, closing the criminal review of a case that dated back to 2024. The decision means the officer will not face prosecution over the deadly encounter.
The officer, identified as Luke Falkenberg, fatally shot Keith Edelman during the incident. Edelman was 46 years old, and the shooting brought a sudden and violent end to what had begun as a police response to another matter entirely.
According to accounts of the encounter, the confrontation lasted about two minutes. During that time, officers can be heard repeatedly ordering the man to drop a knife, with commands of "drop the knife" exchanged before the fatal shots were fired.
The shooting happened in Haddon Township. Officers had gone to the location to look into a burglary, and the encounter in the stairwell escalated from there, according to the state's account of what took place.
The state said that Edelman had a knife and that he started to move toward the officer. That account of the moments before the shooting was central to the review of whether the use of deadly force was justified under the circumstances.
With the grand jury declining to bring charges, the case will not proceed to a criminal trial for the officer. Grand jury reviews of police shootings are a standard part of how such deadly encounters are examined in New Jersey.
The outcome leaves the fatal shooting of Keith Edelman, at 46, without criminal charges against the officer involved. The decision marks the conclusion of the grand jury's consideration of a case that ended a man's life two years ago.