What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Christopher Clark died on May 23, 2020 in Paterson, Passaic County, with "Gunshot" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.

Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?

The record's agency field reads "Passaic County Sheriff's Office". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.

Where did this happen?

The record places the death in Paterson, Passaic County, on May 23, 2020. The address as recorded is 16th Ave and Summer St Paterson NJ 7501 Passaic.

Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?

No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Fatal Encounters record · Independent third-party dataset

Christopher Clark

May 23, 2020 · Paterson, Passaic County

Details as recorded

Every value below is shown exactly as Fatal Encounters recorded it.^[1]

Name as recorded: Christopher Clark
Age as recorded: 26
Gender as recorded: Male
Race as reported: African-American/Black
Date of the injury resulting in death: May 23, 2020
Location as recorded: Paterson, Passaic County16th Ave and Summer St Paterson NJ 7501 Passaic
Highest level of force as recorded: Gunshot

Agencies as recorded

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: Passaic County Sheriff's Office

An agency appears here because it appears in the record's as-reported agency field, nothing more. Its presence is not a claim of fault or responsibility.

The source's account

Fatal Encounters' description of the incident, verbatim. This is the source project's own third-party narrative, not this site's reporting.

Three officers responded to report of shots fired at around 1:10 a.m. When they arrived, they saw Clark on Summer Street. As officers approached, Clark ran, and the officers chased him onto 16th Avenue, where Deputies Americo Escobar, Helman Fava, and Jose Vargas shot and killed Christopher Clark.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: https://whyy.org/articles/n-j-releases-video-in-paterson-police-shooting-of-christopher-clark/ (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

If you are a family member of the person named here, or represent one, and something in this record is wrong, or you want the record removed, requests go through the corrections page. Every request is checked against the source record.

This record is one of the dataset's New Jersey entries from 2000 to 2021. Browse every New Jersey Fatal Encounters record by year.

Questions and answers

What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?: Fatal Encounters records that Christopher Clark died on May 23, 2020 in Paterson, Passaic County, with "Gunshot" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.
Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?: The record's agency field reads "Passaic County Sheriff's Office". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.
Where did this happen?: The record places the death in Paterson, Passaic County, on May 23, 2020. The address as recorded is 16th Ave and Summer St Paterson NJ 7501 Passaic.
Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?: No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Sources

[1]Fatal Encounters, New Jersey subset. Fatal Encounters (fatalencounters.org). Row 3262. Derived from the public Fatal Encounters national dataset (coverage 2000-2021; collection ended December 2021), https://fatalencounters.org/. Retrieved July 10, 2026. ↩