On May 2, 1973, at about 12:45 a.m., Assata Shakur, along with Zayd Malik Shakur (born James F. Costan) and Sundiata Acoli (born Clark Squire), was stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick. A State Trooper James Harper, backed up by Trooper Werner Foerster in a second patrol vehicle for driving with a broken tail light. According to the troopers the car was past the speed limit. Zayd Shakur was driving the two-door vehicle, Assata Shakur was seated in the right front seat, and Acoli was in the right rear seat. Trooper Harper asked the driver for identification, noticed a discrepancy, asked him to get out of the car, and questioned him at the rear of the vehicle. At this point with all this questioning, Zayd took the trooper's gun and starting shooting. Trooper Foerster was shot twice in the head with his own gun and killed. Zayd Shakur was killed, and Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper were wounded.