Holly MatkinKeansburg, NJ – A Keansburg police officer was stabbed by a suspect during a hostage situation at a local pharmacy Thursday afternoon.
The violet incident began at approximately 3:21 p.m. on Jan. 6 inside the Keansburg Pharmacy located at 199 Main Street, the Asbury Park Press reported.
Multiple citizens called 911 to report a robbery-in-progress at the business, the New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office said in a statement later that night.
The Attorney General’s Office said the robbery ultimately became a hostage situation once Keansburg Police Department (KPD) officers arrived at the scene, WABC reported.
During the ensuing confrontation, the suspect stabbed one KPD officer, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Multiple officers opened fire on the suspect, who died from his wounds at the scene, the Attorney General’s Office said.
The suspect’s identity has not been released.
A man who described himself as being one of the suspect’s close friends said the suspect had struggled with addiction and mental illness, WCBS reported.
But he insisted the suspect “wasn’t using” drugs at the time of the incident.
“He seemed happy,” the unnamed friend told WCBS. “He was there to get medicine, and he was told ‘no’ for whatever reason.”
The officer who was stabbed was rushed to Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel in unknown condition, the Asbury Park Press reported.
Keansburg Mayor George Hoff, who served the KPD as an officer for 10 years, declined to discuss the extent of the officer’s injuries or to release his name.
“Our prayers are with him and his family,” Hoff told the Asbury Park Press.
One of the suspect’s friends told WCBS that no one was to blame for the deadly hostage situation.
“I want to give respect to the police and want to give respect to the addicts because it’s not our faults and ain’t their faults,” the friend claimed.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office handles the investigation into all fatal officer-involved shootings, according to the Asbury Park Press.
