Second New Jersey council member killed in span of one week
Misty Severi
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A New Jersey councilman was fatally shot in the parking lot outside his office on Wednesday, just one week after another politician in the state was shot to death in her car.
Russell Heller, a Republican representing the Milford area, was found dead just after 7 a.m. in the parking lot of the energy company PSE&G, where he worked, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. The two deaths are believed to be unrelated.
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Law enforcement officials determined former PSE&G employee Gary Curtis was responsible for the attack on Heller. However, Curtis was discovered in a parking lot nearby with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead on the scene, authorities said.
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“The investigation remains ongoing to determine motive,” the prosecutor’s office said. “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the shooting was an isolated incident and Mr. Heller was the intended target.”
Heller worked as a senior distribution supervisor for the company, it said in a statement, and Heller had been with the firm for more than 11 years.
“We are heartbroken at the tragic death of Russell Heller,” PSE&G said in a statement shared online. “Russell was an admired employee. He will be sorely missed by all, and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”
The company added that it was cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation.
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) also expressed his condolences for the death of Heller on Twitter on Wednesday, calling the incident a “tragic act of gun violence.”
https://twitter.com/GovMurphy/status/1623428067069665280
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Heller’s death comes one week after another Republican council member in the state, Eunice Dwumfour, was found dead in her car near her house, also from a gunshot wound. No suspect or motive has been identified in Dwumfour’s case, but police believe they are unrelated.
Dwumfour represented the Sayreville area of New Jersey, located about 55 miles east of Milford.