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The officer shot back, but didn't hit the Post Avenue resident, who then turned his gun on himself during Sunday morning's incident, Bruck said.
The attorney general issued this statement:
"According to the preliminary investigation, the Lyndhurst Police Department received a phone call at approximately 8:07 a.m. requesting that police check on the welfare of a male resident at an address on Post Avenue.
"When a uniformed officer of the Lyndhurst Police Department arrived at the address, he encountered the resident in front of his house. The resident was armed with a handgun, which he fired at the officer. The officer subsequently fired his service weapon, but did not strike the resident.
"The resident then apparently shot and fatally wounded himself on the sidewalk. Emergency medical personnel rendered first aid and transported the resident to Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, where he was pronounced deceased at approximately 8:28 a.m.
"This investigation is being conducted pursuant to Attorney General Directive 2019-4, which implements the statutory requirement that the Attorney General’s Office conduct the investigation of any death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody, and which establishes clear standards and procedures for conducting such investigations."
Daily Voice, which broke the news on Sunday, is withholding the identity of the 36-year-old resident.
Here is the original story:
ORIGINAL STORY: A disgruntled Lyndhurst man fired a shot at a borough police officer, then turned the gun on himself Sunday, multiple sources told Daily Voice.
The 36-year-old resident was outside his Post Avenue home -- a block and a half off Ridge Road -- when the officer encountered him while responding to a 911 call of a domestic disturbance around 8 a.m., responders said.
The resident, who records show had no criminal history, fired a round at the officer before apparently shooting himself, they said. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later.
The officer apparently wasn't injured.
Detectives from the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and State Police responded and took charge of the investigation.
Despite any obvious circumstances, state law and his own guidelines require Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew 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.
Bruck was expected to release a statement about the Lyndhurst incident sometime Sunday.
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