Off-duty Newark police detective shot to death during robbery www.privateofficer.com
PATERSON NJ Nov 7 2011 – An off-duty Newark police detective was shot and killed after leaving a gentlemen’s club early Monday morning in a robbery that turned deadly.
Investigators work the scene of a fatal shooting in Paterson. An off-duty police officer from Newark was gunned down. ene of the shooting of an off duty police officer. A robber shot and killed the policeman after the officer walked out of the Sunrise Gentlemens Lounge on Straight Street about 3 a.m.
The detective was talking to a dancer from the club by his car at Getty Avenue and Straight Street when they were approached by the robber. The robber pulled out a gun and told the detective and the dancer to hand over their money, said Glenn Brown, public safety director for Paterson.
Police believe the gunman and the detective struggled before the robber fired off a shot, striking the 30-year-old detective in his side. The woman was uninjured. The suspect fled on foot.
A Paterson police vehicle responding to the scene took the detective to nearby St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Newark Police Chief Sheilah Coley was at the scene of the shooting this morning. She said the officer was a six-year veteran who worked in the narcotics and gang unit. Newark police officers are gathering in front of the hospital as a show of respect for the family of the slain officer.
“He was one of our best officers. He was of our finest and brightest stars,” Coley said.
Neither Newark nor Paterson police would release the detective’s identity. Police say he was off-duty and at the club with friends.
Police believe the gunman held up a person on Elizabeth Street three blocks south of the fatal shooting moments earlier.
After the shooting, investigators conducted a yard by yard search, blocking off several streets in the neighborhood. A police dog combed the area for evidence. Shortly before 8 a.m., detectives were inside Sunrise Gentlemens Lounge talking to those inside.
The robber was described as a tall black male who was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers. Police do not know his age or identity.
Police were called to the club in March 2007 after three men stabbed one man and attacked another in the bathroom. The victims were taken to St. Joseph and released.
Source:northjersey.com
