Video Captures Chestnut Liquor Store Killing

A newly released video by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office graphically shows the shooting that resulted in a homicide at Chestnut Liquor Store in West Orange last year.

The short video, first posted Thursday on NJ.com, shows the events leading up to the  incident in which 28-year-old Hillside resident James Wilson was shot and killed. 

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, according to Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly.

In store's surveillance video, two men are seen bursting into the liquor store at 8:17 p.m. Both men’s faces were covered, with one man wearing a hood and the other wearing a hat and bandanna around his face. One of the men can be seen holding a gun. 

The footage shows both men walking out of the camera’s view and then reappearing escorting Wilson back to the front counter. A confrontation appears to take place, and one of the men is shown pointing a gun at Wilson.

Just as one of the men leaves the store at 8:20 p.m., the other man shoots Wilson three times from close range. After the shooting, Wilson is seen getting back up, before falling out of the camera’s view again.

Fennelly said Friday night the prosecutor’s office “spoke to the family of the victim and asked if they would object to it being released into the public ... with the hope that someone may notice something in the video and come forward to police.”

He added the prosecutor’s office has been “following a number of leads since the time of the incident ... and ... [continues] to follow a number of leads and exhaust a number of leads."

The liquor store shut down five months later when police arrested eight men in a drug bust in September.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office confidential tips hotline at 1 (877) 847-7432 or the West Orange Police Department at (973) 325-4000.

Crimestoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the suspects. All calls will be kept confidential.