Moorestown Police Department, New Jersey
End of Watch: Friday, June 1, 1979
Age: 48
Tour of Duty: 24 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: April 3, 1979
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Sergeant Fullerton succumbed to gunshot wounds received two months earlier while searching for four armed robbery suspects. The suspects had robbed a liguor store in hammonton and crashed their vehicle into a concrete wall in Moorestown, 40 miles away, during a high-speed pursuit involving 10 police departments. The men then fled on the foot. Sergeant Fullerton responded to the area and began searching for the suspects. He located one of them and a gunfight ensued where Sergeant Fullerton was fatally wounded. All four suspects including the 26-year-old gunman were all apprehended.
The gunman was convicted of murder, armed robbery, and sentenced to life plus 30 years. In 1981 he was shot in the back by a guard as he and three other inmates attempted to escape from Trenton Maximum Security Prison. He was convicted of escape, possession of a deadly weapon, arson, and received another 20 years. He will be eligible for parole on May 8, 2023. The other three suspects received lengthy prison terms.
Sergeant Fullerton had been with the agency for 24 years. He was survived by two sons. One of his sons was in the police academy at the time of the shooting.