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United States > New Jersey > New Jersey State Police > Trooper Werner Foerster

Trooper

Werner Foerster

New Jersey State Police, New Jersey

End of Watch: Wednesday, May 2, 1973

Bio & Incident Details

Age: 34

Tour: 3 years

Badge # 2608

Cause: Gunfire

Incident Date: 5/2/1973

Weapon: Officer's handgun

Suspect: At large

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Trooper Werner Foerster was shot and killed with his own service weapon after backing up another trooper who had stopped a vehicle containing two men and a woman on New Jersey Turnpike.

The subjects started struggling with the troopers and were able to disarm Trooper Foerster. One of the men opened fire, killing Trooper Foerster and wounding the other trooper. Despite the wounds, the other trooper was able to return fire and killed of the subject.

The three subjects were members of the Black Liberation Army. The two surviving subjects were convicted of Trooper Foerster's murder, but the female suspect escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she has remained at large. The man who shot Trooper Werner was sentenced to life in prison. He was denied parole in 2011, but in September 2014, the New Jersey Superior Court overturned the ruling and ordered that the subject be paroled.

An accomplice who helped the female subject escape was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list in 1982. He was arrested in 1986 for his involvement in the 1981 murders of two Nyack, New York, police officers.

Trooper Foerster had served with the New Jersey State Police Department for almost three years. He is survived by his wife and two children and is buried in Beth Abraham Cemetery, East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

The Route 18 overpass on the New Jersey Turnpike was dedicated the Werner Foerster Overpass in his honor.

The Black Liberation Army was a violent, radical group that attempted to fight for independence from the United States government in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The BLA was responsible for the murders of more than 10 police officers around the country. They were also responsible for violent attacks around the country that left many police officers wounded.

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