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Suspended NJ Jail Officer Indicted In Shooting That Killed Medical Worker, Wounded Patient

A suspended New Jersey corrections officer who opened fire in a doctor's office when he couldn't book an appointment has been indicted for murder, authorities said.

Suspended NJ Corrections Officer Bruce W. Gomola

Suspended NJ Corrections Officer Bruce W. Gomola

Photo Credit: Burlington County Prosecutor's Office

Bruce Gomola Jr., 52, was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina.

Gomola, from Burlington Township, worked at Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly at the time of last summer's fatal shooting at a medical office, Coffina said.

He has been suspended without pay and is being held in a detention facility in northern New Jersey, Coffina said.

Police were called to the 15000 block of Midlantic Drive in Mount Laurel on July 24, 2020, on a report of a shooting inside the Delaware Valley Urology office, Coffina said.

An investigation found that Gomola became upset while attempting to arrange an appointment for his father to be seen by a physician, the prosecutor said.

When Patient Services Representative Stephanie Horton tried to talk with Gomola, he allegedly pulled a .40 caliber handgun and fired one shot into her chest, according to Coffina. The bullet exited through Horton's back and struck a female patient in the knee, he said.

Gomola then left the building and drove away, but soon returned to the scene and surrendered without incident to a Mount Laurel detective, Coffina said.

Horton, 44, of Willingboro, was pronounced dead at Cooper University Hospital in Camden. 

The second victim, a patient in her fifties, was treated at Cooper hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Assistant Prosecutor Bob Van Gilst, supervisor of the BCPO Major Crimes Unit – Violent Crimes Section, is handling the case.

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