On the evening of August 21, 2020, a domestic dispute call brought Asbury Park police to an apartment on 4th Avenue shortly after 9 p.m. Officers found a woman outside while 39-year-old Hasani Best had barricaded himself inside an upstairs unit. The standoff lasted nearly an hour as officers tried to negotiate through the apartment door.

During the confrontation Best periodically opened the door, displaying a knife and refusing repeated requests to drop it. Asbury Park Police Sgt. Sean DeShader fired two rounds, striking Best. He received medical aid and was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:31 p.m.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation into the shooting and reviewed body camera footage and witness interviews. What details about the confrontation, command decisions, or alternatives remain unclear to readers?