32°
A Woodbridge police officer and a New York City homicide detective were wounded in the exchange, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
The township officer was shot in the back and the city detective in the foot, the NYPD said.
Both have already been released from the hospital following treatment, the attorney general said on Friday, June 14.
Karl Gregory, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene of the early Thursday shooting, he said.
Gregory -- known as "PopcornBully Tenfive" to that point had been considered a person of interest in a June 7 shooting near his home in the East Harlem section of Manhattan that left a 29-year-old man hospitalized with a life-threatening head injury, the NYPD said.
It wasn't immediately clear why Gregory had gone to the Royal Albert Palace, a hotel and banquet hall in the Fords section of Woodbridge.
He'd been followed there by Edison and Woodbridge police after an automated reader that pinged the license plate of his car, Platkin said.
Detectives from the NYPD joined them and New Jersey State Police there late Wednesday, June 12, the attorney said.
They were interviewing a civilian -- who published reports say is the man's girlfriend -- when the elevator doors at the hotel opened and he emerged carrying multiple bags, Platkin said.
The man then walked toward the lobby, dropped the bags and reached into a backpack for a weapon, he said.
"Gunfire was then exchanged between law enforcement personnel and the individual," the attorney general said. "The person of interest and two police officers were struck during the exchange."
Platkin identified those wounded as Woodbridge Police Officer Justin Nerney and NYPD Detective Matthew Mauro. Also firing at Gregory was Officer Drew Krupinski, he said.
"Woodbridge PD officers immediately began rendering medical aid to Mr. Gregory until the arrival of EMS personnel," the attorney general said. "Mr. Gregory was later pronounced deceased at the scene.
"A handgun located near him was recovered."
Police at the scene said the girlfriend was taken into custody.
Platkin, meanwhile, said multiple shell casings from the various weapons were collected as part of a state-mandated investigation into the incident.
Both New Jersey law and his own guidelines require Platkin's office to 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 AG's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury “in a neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency.”
The panel of civilians reviews evidence that includes interviews of witnesses, photographs, footage from body-worn and dashboard cameras, as well as from surveillance cameras and cellphones, to determine whether or not there was cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
"This incident is another reminder that our law enforcement officers risk their lives daily to keep our communities safe," Platkin said. "Their resilience deserves our unwavering support.
"As the state’s top law enforcement officer, I am resolute in working with our law enforcement partners to complete a thorough and complete investigation and to do everything in my power to prevent this kind of violence against law enforcement in the future," the attorney general added.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Manville and receive free news updates.
