Blank was a passenger in a car driven by his girlfriend on July 13, 2006, when Egg Harbor Township Officer Christopher Leary stopped the vehicle. He shot Leary in the chest, but the officer's bulletproof vest protected him from serious injury. Egg Harbor Township Policeman William Loder confronted Blank a short time later and ordered him to drop the gun. Christopher Blank, 46, has appealed his conviction many times since then, including a 2018 appeal in federal court after his appeals in state court failed. In 2025, Christopher Blank hoped that Gov.