A former police officer will lose his job at New Jersey’s Rowan University after questions were raised over his fatal shooting of a black teenager in April 1994.
Peter Amico, who is white, and currently the director of the university’s emergency management office, was a patrolman in Glassboro Township 26 years ago when he fatally wounded 14-year-old El Tarmaine ‘L.T.’ Sanders.
Amico claimed that Sanders was running after his cousin Darrell Sanders, 17, with a 13-inch knife and when confronted, he lunged at the cop with the weapon.
Amico said he made a ‘split-second decision’ and shot the child in front of his mother Delores Sanders, who had called police to the scene to stop the boys fighting.
Peter Amico (left in an old newspaper clipping) claimed the teen lunged at him with a knife but witnesses said LT Sanders (right) backed down when the cop showed up on April 17, 1994. LT was shot dead in a ‘split second decision’
Amico continued to work for Glassboro police until he retired in 2009. However he started working as a private contractor in the public safety division’s accreditation process in 2008. He was hired full-time in 2010 and became director of emergency management at Rowan University in 2013
He was put on leave after the April 17, 1994 incident and returned just weeks later on May 9.
But a federal civil rights investigation found no violations, and state prosecutors concluded Amico – who was 29 at the time – hadn’t committed a crime and he was not indicted.
At the time it sparked protests as witnesses disputed the officer’s account and said that while LT had a knife, he stopped chasing his cousin when the cop showed up.
Activists said cops would have never handled the situation so violently if white children were involved.
The community criticized former Army military police lieutenant Patricia Kunchynski, who was the department’s first female chief, for local cops being more aggressive toward the black community in the years since she started her role.
Many pointed out there was only one black cop out of 39 in the township where African Americans made up one-fifth of the population. The chief said she’d tried to make the department more diverse but two officers left for higher paid jobs.
Amico continued to work for Glassboro police until he retired in 2009.
Later, he started working as a private contractor at Rowan in the public safety division’s accreditation process in 2008. He was hired full-time in 2010 and became director of emergency management in 2013.
There were protests for justice after the April 17, 1994 incident where LT Sanders (pictured in funeral programs)died but investigations cleared the cop
A recent petition called for Amico’s firing and on Monday Rowan University said it would not be renewing his contract come June 10
In the wake of white police officer Derek Chauvin being charged with black man George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis last week, an online petition calling for his firing garnered over 3,000 signatures.
The Change.org petition claims that ‘Amico said that he was ‘proud’ to accept a racist Combat Cross Award given by Gloucester County police organizations for killing El Tarmaine Sanders’.
It called Amico’s hiring as director of emergency management a ‘revolting insult to the Sanders family and to African Americans everywhere’.
‘Protection of Human Life’ is the first priority of Rowan’s Office of Emergency Management, Peter Amico’s continued presence as the person in charge says loudly that “Black Lives Don’t Matter” at Rowan University,’ the petition stated as it called upon Rowan University president, Dr. Ali Houshmand, and Rowan Board of Trustees chair Mr. Chad Bruner, to terminate Amico’s contract.
On Monday, Rowan University said his contract will be discontinued.
Rowan University President Ali Houshmand said on Monday that Amico’s contract will be discontinued
‘In recent days, questions have been raised about Rowan University’s employment of a former police officer who was involved in a controversial incident that led to pain and division in our community more than two decades ago,’ Rowan University President Ali Houshmand wrote in a letter titled ‘Acting in the public interest, serving public trust’.
‘Amid the national spotlight on social justice and police matters, the University will not reappoint Peter Amico, director of Rowan’s Office of Emergency Management, at its June 10 Board of Trustees meeting.’
‘We cannot begin to imagine the Sanders’ family grief. Nothing can replace their loved one,’ Houshmand said.
‘We also acknowledge the difficulty police officers encounter when called to face uncertain conditions, as well as the public scrutiny they endure in their work among us.’
‘As a University, we believe black lives matter. We are looking hard at our own organization, our policies, structure and culture,’ the president’s statement added.
‘We found we have work to do. I am sure some of it will be more difficult and uncomfortable than we can imagine. We will be transparent in our transformation and look for opportunities to engage with the University community to bring about much-needed change.’
An independent educator who launched the petition, said it was ‘the right decision.’
‘It demonstrates that, going forward, black lives will matter at Rowan University,’ the Courier Post reported James E. Johnson said.
Delores Sanders, who watched her son get killed after she called police to break up a fight between LT and his cousin, was pleased Amico has finally been fired