“It was like something out of the OK Corral”
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A man suspected of shooting at a female acquaintance traded gunfire with police Tuesday night, wounding one officer before being shot dead, authorities said.
Officer Patrick Evans, 22, a two-year veteran of the force, was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s trauma wing at 7:19 p.m. and was listed in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said.
The suspect, Sixto Hernandez, 21, of South River, was taken to Robert Wood Johnson and pronounced dead at 8:37 p.m., Kaplan said.
Kaplan said shortly after 7 p.m. Hernandez opened fire at a female acquaintance at 25 John St. The woman got to her car and fled, flagging down Evans, who returned to the residence and was shot by Hernandez. Other responding officers then killed Hernandez, he said.
Michael Anderson, 38, who lives nearby, said Evans dropped to the ground and other arriving officers quickly returned fire. Anderson said he saw police remove the officer’s bulletproof vest.
“It was like something out of the OK Corral,” Anderson told the Home News Tribune of East Brunswick.
Other nearby residents said they heard as many as 20 shots.
The shooting scene was cordoned off with yellow police tape as clusters of onlookers gathered.