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Borough officers who went to the Seabreeze Way home shortly after 1 p.m. on Memorial Day "encountered an adult male civilian who possessed numerous weapons and a running chainsaw," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
"As the male approached officers with the running chainsaw, one officer deployed a [Taser] and another officer fired his service weapon, striking the individual," the attorney general said. on Friday, May 31.
Unconfirmed reports were that the man was struck three times, in the collarbone, arm and back.
Officers and emergency medical personnel rendered medical aid to the man, who was last reported in critical but stable condition at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Platkin said.
Further details were being temporarily withheld pending the preliminary results of a state investigation, he said.
State law and his office's guidelines require a review by the attorney general's staff of any police use of force that results either in death or "serious bodily injury likely to result in death."
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas, he said.
Members of the AG's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) have been conducting witness interviews, collecting area surveillance video and searching for other evidence.
What they gather will be presented to a state grand jury in Trenton in a "neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency,” the attorney general said.
After hearing testimony and reviewing the evidence, the grand jurors will determine whether or not charges should be filed.
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