HILLSBOROUGH TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Somerset County) — Authorities are investigating a double homicide and an officer-involved shooting that occurred Thursday inside a Hillsborough Township home, officials said.
Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald, Chief of County Detectives Francisco Roman Jr., and Hillsborough Police Chief Michael McMahon said officers responded at approximately 4:12 p.m. on Sept. 25 to a request for a welfare check at a residence on Cornell Trail.
When initial attempts to contact the residents were unsuccessful, officers entered the home at around 6:24 p.m. While checking the second floor, police encountered an adult male with a weapon. A Hillsborough Township officer discharged his duty weapon, striking the man, officials said. Officers began life-saving measures before the man was transported to a trauma center, where he remains in critical condition.
Inside the home, officers discovered two homicide victims — an adult male and an adult female — in separate bedrooms on the second floor. Both were pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Somerset.
Detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the Hillsborough Police Department, the Crime Scene Investigations Unit, medical investigators from the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability Fatal Police Encounters Unit responded to the scene. A postmortem examination will be performed to identify the victims and determine cause and manner of death.
The Attorney General’s Office said its preliminary investigation showed that when officers entered the residence at about 6:23 p.m., a man emerged from a second-floor bedroom holding a knife and advanced toward police before being shot. The knife was recovered at the scene.
Under a 2019 law, the Attorney General’s Office is required to investigate deaths that occur during encounters with law enforcement or while a person is in custody. Those investigations must be presented to a grand jury to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
The identities of the deceased, the injured male, and the involved officers have not been released. Officials said the investigation remains ongoing and no further details are available.
