Michael Vulpis of Freehold Borough, Noah Phelps of Monroe Township, and Glenn Franzson of Jackson Township were indicted on Wednesday, Sept. 18, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. The three were facing charges in the shooting on Thursday, June 27.
Jackson police responded to the shooting report on Larsen Road at around 12:20 a.m. and officers found a 27-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his face. He was treated at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and released from the Neptune hospital.
Investigators said the man and a woman were sitting in a parked vehicle outside a home when a blue car parked in front of them. Two men approached their vehicle and knocked on the window.
As the victim got out of the vehicle, one suspect started hitting him. Vulpis, 26, was accused of shooting the man in the face before the suspects left the scene.
Vulpis was arrested at his home on Wednesday, July 3. He was indicted for attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon, being a certain person not to possess a weapon, and conspiracy to commit witness tampering.
Investigators also said Phelps, 24, was the other suspect in the attack and that he planned with Vulpis to assault the victim. An arrest warrant was issued for Phelps on Thursday, Aug. 15 and he surrendered at the Freehold Township Police Department the next day.
Phelps was indicted for attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Prosecutors said Franzson, 32, and Vulpis tried to contact the victim to get him to give a false statement to investigators. Police executed a search warrant on Franzson's home on August 15 and found a Polymer80 ghost gun with a high-capacity magazine, along with an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine and cocaine.
Franzson was indicted for conspiracy to commit witness tampering, possession of a weapon without a serial number, possession of a high-capacity ammunition magazine, possession of cocaine, and possession of methamphetamine.
Vulpis has remained in the Ocean County Jail since his arrest. Phelps and Franzson were released on bail.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, assisted investigators in Monmouth and Ocean counties in the case.
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