24°
Mark D. Walker II, 34, of Woodbridge, Va. shot the detective in the leg before barricading himself inside the Chelsea Avenue apartment last Friday, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
Walker was shot and killed after a fire broke out in the house and he came out shooting nearly nine hours later, multiple sources said.
The wounded Monmouth County prosecutor's detective was working a homicide investigation with colleagues when they went to 274 Chelsea Avenue with the warrant Friday afternoon, Bruck said.
Walker then "moved into a room of the apartment" and fired as they followed him, wounding the detective, he said.
“At that point the officers repositioned [themselves] outside the apartment and the individual barricaded himself inside,” he said.
A tactical team was summoned, streets were closed and people were urged to remain inside as TV news choppers circled overhead. NJ Transit, which has tracks nearby, suspended rail service between Little Silver and Long Branch. The FBI reportedly responded to the scene, as well.
The standoff lasted until 2 a.m., when a fire broke out in the apartment and Walker came running out, “discharging a firearm multiple times as he exited,” the attorney general said.
Sources told NBC New York that the man was holding his girlfriend’s 2-week-old baby and a police shield as he emerged shooting.
Returning fire were three members of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team, said Bruck, who identified them as Manalapan Officer Eric Voorand, Howell Township Officer Daniel Murphy and Middletown Township Officer Omar Akel.
Walker was pronounced dead at the scene, the attorney general said.
The wounded detective was treated at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune and released sometime later, he said.
The newborn was taken by first responders for an evaluation, sources told NBC New York.
Despite the clear and obvious circumstances, both state law and his own guidelines require Bruck to investigate deaths that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody."
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner."
Once the investigation is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury -- ordinarily consisting of 16 to 23 citizens -- that determines whether or not there's cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Garfield-Lodi and receive free news updates.
