The New Jersey State Police Ballistics Unit report came back inconclusive, but the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office concluded the bullet came from the officer's gun. Watch video
ASBURY PARK -- A bullet that grazed an 8-year-old girl during a gun battle between a patrolman and a city resident came from the officer's service weapon, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office concluded Friday.
Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni released on Wednesday a detailed report of the incident, which cleared the officer involved in the case, Patrolman Terrence McGhee, of any wrongdoing.
Authorities said that 20-year-old Dante Allen had fired at McGhee first, and McGhee shot back in self-defense. McGhee struck Allen in the leg.
That report, however, did not include information on whose bullet hit 8-year-old Cassie Jones, who was sitting in her Borden Avenue home watching television when a bullet grazed her in the forehead.
The prosecutor's office was awaiting a New Jersey State Police Ballistics Unit test before making that determination.
That test came back on Friday, and although it was inconclusive, Gramiccioni said he believes the bullet came from the officer's .40-caliber Glock service weapon.
"The ballistics examination by the New Jersey State Police Forensic Investigations Bureau Ballistics Unit was inconclusive in determining which projectile struck the victim, but the opinion of the forensics lab and the investigatory opinion of this office have determined the projectile came from the weapon of the police officer," Gramiccioni said in a statement.
At around 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2015, McGhee exchanged gunfire with Allen in a dirt field near the intersection of Atkins Avenue and Springwood Avenue.
McGhee had stopped Allen while on patrol and asked to see both hands, but Allen kept his left hand tucked in his sweatshirt, authorities said. Once McGhee felt a gun on Allen, authorities said, Allen took off running.
While fleeing from McGhee, Allen turned around and fired his 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun at the officer. McGhee returned fired, striking Allen in the leg. Allen was taken to a local hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
As officers were responding to multiple reports of shots fired in the area, other 911 calls came in that a young girl had been shot at a house on Borden Avenue.
A ballistics marker showed that a bullet had entered the rear of the one-story home. The home sits across the street from the dirt field the gun battle between Allen and McGhee had taken place in.
Cassie Jones was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she was treated and released that night.
The report that deemed McGhee's use of deadly force as justified was largely based on evidence from a surveillance video obtained from a nearby business. It also included information from an interview with a woman who witnessed the incident from her front porch.
The prosecutor's office has not yet released the video because it still remains part of the pre-grand jury investigation, said Charles Webster, a spokesman for the Monmouth county Prosecutor's Office.
Allen was charged with attempted murder and other weapons offenses in connection to the shooting.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.