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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, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
The man, whose identity was temporarily being withheld, moved into a room of the apartment and then fired as they followed him, hitting the detective in the lower leg, Bruck said.
“At that point the officers repositioned [themselves] outside the apartment and the individual barricaded himself inside,” he said.
A SWAT 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 the man 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.
“Officers returned fire, hitting the individual, who was later pronounced dead at the scene,” Bruck said.
The wounded officer was treated at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune and released, authorities 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.
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