AG investigating after suspect dies during Woodbridge police vehicle stop
WOODBRIDGE – The Attorney General's Office is investigating after a man apparently fatally shot himself in the van he was driving after Woodbridge police conducted a vehicle stop at a Route 9 gas station last week.
The man's name has not yet been released by the Attorney General's Office.
A preliminary investigation indicates Woodbridge police were conducting a vehicle stop at a Route 9 northbound gas station around 6:33 p.m. on June 14. Officers learned the man driving the van, who was the only person in the vehicle, had an active National Crime Information Center warrant in connection with a Nassau County, New York criminal investigation, according to the Attorney General's Office.
The officers asked the man to exit the van, but he refused and instead moved into the van's rear compartment behind a curtain where the officers could not see him. The officers broke the van's windows and used a pepper spray in an effort to get the man to exit the vehicle, the Attorney General's Office said.
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Less than 15 minutes later the officers heard a loud noise that sounded like fireworks and members of the Woodbridge Police Department's Tactical Team, Perth Amboy Police Department and EMS personnel responded to the scene, the Attorney General's Office said.
The man was later found in the van, dead from an apparent gunshot wound, around 8:30 p.m. A shotgun, that did not belong to the police, was recovered inside the vehicle. Preliminary information indicates no law enforcement officers fired their weapons, the Attorney General's Office said.
An investigation into the circumstances of the man's death is underway. No additional information is being released at this time.
Under state law the New Jersey Attorney General's Office is required to conduct investigations of a person's death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in their official capacity or while the person is in police custody.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NY suspect dies during Woodbridge NJ police vehicle stop
