'Drop The Knife!': Jury Rules On Officer-Involved Shooting Death In South Jersey

HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ — A state grand jury will not file criminal charges against a member of the Haddon Township Police force following a deadly shooting in 2024, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said.

Officer Luke Falkenberg shot a 46-year-old man dead after he approached a group of law enforcement while holding a knife at the scene of an attempted burglary.

A jury of New Jersey residents reviewed 9-1-1 calls, police radio transmissions, body-worn camera footage, witness and law enforcement statements, a ballistics report, and autopsy results before voting "no bill" on Monday.

On Nov. 3, 2024, at around 1 a.m., officers responded to an apartment complex along West Crystal Lake Avenue in the Westmont area.

A resident called to report a "strange man" who just opened their apartment door.

The caller told the dispatcher that they locked the door and didn't know where the man went.

When officers arrived, they found blood in the lobby, on the elevator, and on the carpet in a hallway.

Authorities encountered Keith Edelin, 46, of Pennsauken, with a knife in the stairwell on a top landing.

Officers told him multiple times to drop the knife, authorities said, and he repeatedly refused.

After telling Edelin that they were there to help him and giving more orders to drop the knife, he started moving downward to the officers.

Falkenberg shot his service weapon and hit Edelin. Officers provided medical aid until medical staff arrived.

A knife was confiscated at the scene, authorities said.

Edelin was taken to Cooper University Hospital where he was declared dead roughly an hour later.

No officers were injured.

The case was handled by the Office of the Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) under the Independent Prosecutor Directive of 2019.

Under New Jersey state law, the Office of the Attorney General is required to take on cases with deaths that involve an encounter with law enforcement.

Footage from the encounter and a 9-1-1 call reporting the attempted burglary were both released in September 2025 by the Office of the Attorney General. (Warning: Images and audio may be disturbing.)

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