Newark cop shoots and kills ex-wife, wounds her boyfriend, authorities say – NJ.com

A Newark police officer killed his ex-wife and wounded her boyfriend in shooting late Sunday night in Morris County before being arrested at his parent’s home on Monday morning, authorities said.

Lt. John Formisano, a 24-year veteran, shot the woman inside a home on Mirror Place in Jefferson around 11:20 p.m., officials said Monday. His wife’s name was not immediately available. The condition of her boyfriend was also not known.

Formisano was taken into custody at his parent’s house in Livingston at around 2 a.m., a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said. He has been suspended without pay, according to Newark police.

News of Formisano’s arrest stunned his colleagues at the Newark Police Department, according to James Stewart Jr., president of the Newark Fraternal Order of Police.

“To say that we are all shocked by the events of early this morning would be a tremendous understatement,” said Stewart, in a statement noting that he attended the police academy with Formisano.

“He had been going through marital problems and he has been taking care of his mother who is battling serious health issues, but there was no indication that any violence was being contemplated,” Stewart said. “Our hearts break for his children and our condolences go out to the shattered family of his wife, we are all just stunned.”

A retired Passaic County Sheriff’s Officer who lives in the neighborhood said a neighbor saw the shooter.

“(Formisano) went in the front door, ” Thomas Verrone said. “He shot the boyfriend three times and he shot the wife two times. She ran out of that house, went to next-door neighbor banging on the door, yelling she had been shot. But it was late at night so no one answered.

“He came out, followed her and she went to the other neighbor’s house. She opened the (screen) door and then he unloaded more on her, she fell there.”

Verrone said one of his two daughters heard gunshots.

“She heard the shots but she thought it was fireworks because kids run around doing that.”

Julie Rivera said she was visiting her boyfriend when the shots rang out.

“We heard three shots. I’ve never heard gunshots before so in my mind I’m thinking they were fireworks. And then we hear police,” Rivera said. “Our phones started blowing up, ‘Lock your doors, there was a shooting.’ And then we see everywhere, all over, that there was a shooting. The stories were coming out.”

Public records show Formisano, 49, purchased the home on Mirror Place nearly a decade ago.