Over 100 interviewed in Corey Jones case

More than 100 potential witnesses from three countries and 30 states have been interviewed in the investigation of the fatal police shooting of Corey Jones, according to an update on the investigation from the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office Thursday.

The investigation into the Oct. 18 shooting in Palm Beach Gardens remains active as testing continues for DNA, fingerprints, crime scene analysis and ballistics, State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a press release.

Investigators with the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office, FBI and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office are working with experts and reports on their findings are pending, according to the release.

When reached by phone Thursday, Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, declined to comment.

Jones, a 31-year-old church drummer from Boynton Beach, was waiting at his broken down SUV on Interstate 95 and PGA Boulevard when he was shot and killed by Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja.

Raja, who was wearing plain clothes and driving an un- marked police van, was checking on Jones’ vehicle when he was confronted by Jones, police say

Jones’ relatives and their lawyers have said it’s likely Jones didn’t know Raja was a police officer.

Raja, 38, began working with the department in April.

He was still in his probationary period as an officer with the department when he was dismissed in November.

Jones’ bandmate in Future Prezidents, Bo Simeonov, 34, of Delray Beach, said he was “completely floored” when he heard about the shooting and in the months since has grown frus- trated with how long the investigation is taking.

“It seems like the strategy with the process is let’s drag this out, let public opinion cool off,” Simeonov said.

Simeonov said he doesn’t know how Raja could’ve interpreted Jones’ SUV on the side of the interstate as a threat.

He said he and Jones’ family and friends are still waiting for answers about the shooting.

“I think about Corey every single day, every show, every time I touch my instrument,” Simeonov, said. “I miss my friend.”

Stuart Kaplan, a former FBI agent who works as a Palm Beach Gardens-based attorney and is not involved in the Corey Jones case, said the fact that the case is still being investigated isn’t out of the ordinary.

“I’ve seen these cases play out for years. There are cases that have gone on for almost an eternity until someone starts to shake the trees and make waves,” Kaplan said.

While investigators haven’t released any information about the more than 100 potential witnesses, Kaplan said he believes a possible explanation is that there’s a hotel near the shooting scene.