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Officers responding to gunfire from near Mt. Olive Holy Temple Church on Atkins Avenue in Neptune City around 7:15 p.m. Sunday tried stopping a car that fled the scene, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said.
"The vehicle subsequently crashed less than a mile away in the area of Washington Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in neighboring Neptune Township," Linskey said.
The vehicle hit a tree, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said, adding that guns were found nearby.
Two occupants, ex-con Justin Mayes-Wiggs, 33, of Neptune Township, and a 15-year-old boy bailed out and fled but were quickly located, Linskey said.
Another occupant subsequently died at a local hospital, where a fourth remained in critical condition, the prosecutor said.
The juvenile was also hospitalized, she added, without saying who was driving.
Mayes-Wiggs -- who served more than three years in state prison for robbery and gun possession -- was charged with weapons offenses, including being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
He remained held in Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Freehold.
Meanwhile, state authorities are reviewing the circumstances of the crash because the unidentified occupant's death involved police action.
Both state law and his own guidelines require that Platkin's office investigate any and all 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."
This is done no matter what the circumstances are.
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is conducted “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas.
Once the investigation by the attorney general's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury.
The grand jury reviews a host of evidence -- including witness interviews, body and dashcam video, and forensic and autopsy results -- to determine whether or not there was cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
Anyone who witnessed any part of the incident or has information that could help investigators is asked to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor's Detective Christopher Guy at 800-533-7443 or Asbury Park Police Detective Dillon Gourley at (732) 774-1300.
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