LONG BRANCH, NJ—The man shot and killed by law enforcement officers during a gun battle in the city early Saturday was holding a two-week old infant as he tried to escape, a source said.
NBC 4 New York first reported the information. The Asbury Park Press has confirmed it with another source.
The gun battle came after an hourslong standoff that started with law enforcement officers from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and the Asbury Park Police Department serving a warrant at the home at 274 Chelsea Ave. about 5:15 p.m. Friday, authorities said.
The suspect fired through the door at a detective from the prosecutor's office, striking him in the lower leg, sources said.
The detective was treated that night at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and released.
At 2 a.m., the suspect, whose name has not been released, fled with the baby, his girlfriend's child, sources said. He held the police shield of the wounded detective in one hand, a gun in the other and the baby in his arm, firing at officers as he ran out of the building, sources said. After he was shot and killed, the officers found the baby uninjured.
After the gun battle, officers saw that the building had been set on fire, the source said. Officials would not say how the fire started.
The fire gutted the multi-dwelling building, displacing several people.
On Friday evening, a city official told the Asbury Park Press, the warrant was connected to a shooting in Asbury Park. The state Attorney General's Office said in a statement Saturday it pertained to a homicide.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office released a statement Tuesday announcing that a homicide took place in Asbury Park last week. The office declined to say whether it was connected to the Long Branch fatal shooting.
Sources said the man who was shot and killed was wanted for out-of-state crimes as well as the Asbury Park homicide.
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