Police: ‘Despondent’ man with gun spurs response to Wawa in Toms River Sunday night
A “despondent” man threatening suicide with a gun spurred a heavy police response to a Wawa store in Toms River late Sunday evening, police said.
Police responded to the Wawa at 1600 Route 37 in Toms River shortly before 11:00 p.m. in reference to an armed man threatening suicide, according to Ralph Stocco, Toms River Police Department spokesman.
Detectives negotiated with the 30-year-old Seaside Heights man until shortly after 2:00 a.m., WOBM reported.
“While police units were on the scene, he discharged his gun, striking himself,” Stocco said.
The man, who police did not identify, was transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River for treatment and then later transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, the spokesman said.
He remains in critical condition, according to the WOBM report.
Stocco did not have additional information, stating that the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office is the lead agency conducting the investigation.
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