BLOOMFIELD —
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating a police-involved shooting in Bloomfield that left a 60-year-old alleged domestic violence suspect dead.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino said that on Friday, Aug. 18, shortly after 8 a.m., at a residence on Greenbrook Drive, Bloomfield police officers responded to a 911 domestic-violence call.
Arriving officers said they were confronted by a man who was armed with a knife — and the officers also observed a woman suffering from apparent stab wounds.
The officers said they attempted to disarm the suspect, but when when he lunged toward them, one police officer discharged his weapon.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:30 a.m.
The woman was transported to an area hospital where she is currently in stable condition. One responding police officer was treated at an area hospital, as well, for chest pains, according to reports. It’s not immediately clear whether it was the officer who fired the fatal shot.
The suspect who was shot, meanwhile, has been identified as Leroy Frank, 60. The female victim, 54, is Frank’s estranged wife who, according to reports, lives at the Greenbrook Drive condo complex where the incident took place. The ECPO is not releasing her name.
“Officers responded here on a dispatch call for domestic violence, upon arrival they located a female suffering from stab wounds, also a male at the location armed with a knife confronted officers at which time the suspect charged at officers and shots were fired,” Bloomfield Public Safety Director Samuel DeMaio told WCBS TV.
The investigation is ongoing. Attorney General guidelines require all county Prosecutor’s Offices to respond to incidents whenever a law enforcement officer discharges a weapon.
The investigation is active and no additional information is immediately available. Anyone with additional information on the incident may contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office’s Professional Standards Bureau at 862-520-3700.
