What to Know
- A retired police lieutenant fatally shot himself inside a police headquarters after he was arrested over a domestic violence incident
- Prosecutors say Patrick Montella, 58, a retired Newark cop, was being processed Tuesday at the Bloomfield Police Dept. when he shot himself
- It's the second time in seven months that a detainee in a New Jersey police station used a gun on himself
A retired police lieutenant fatally shot himself inside a police headquarters in New Jersey after he was arrested over a domestic violence incident.
The Essex County Prosecutor's Office says 58-year-old Patrick Montella, who was a retired Newark's police officer, was being processed Tuesday at the Bloomfield Police Department when he shot himself.
Officials say he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Montella was in the process of being released when he lunged for his old service weapon -- which had been collected during his arrest -- and shot himself, sources said.
In a statement, Bloomfield Police Director Samuel DeMaio said: "We have policies in place to ensure that tragedies like this do not happen. We are carefully reviewing all facts, body camera footage, in house camera footage and car camera footage to find out where the breakdown was. We will take appropriate corrective actions when the investigation is complete.”
The president of the Newark police union FOP Lodge 12 said the incident "has shaken the Newark Police Department to its core."
Local
"Except for our newest members, everybody knew Pat Montella and/or his wife Corrine. Pat was a well-respected man who was always there for his cops. His death has left us all at a loss for words. We have been in touch with Corrine and she knows we are here for her and will help her get through this any way we can," FOP Lodge 12 president James Stewart, Jr. said in a statement.
Stewart added that they have also been in contact with the Bloomfield Police Department "offering our support to those officers who were involved with Pat last night. We know the chain of events must be very difficult to process.”
It's the second time in seven months that a detainee in a New Jersey police station used a gun on himself.
In June, 41-year-old Jermaine Covington, a suspect in an attempted carjacking, grabbed a gun from an officer and fatally shot himself at the Hillside Police Department.
