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Possible Motive for Jersey Cop's Shooting Rampage
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Possible Motive for Jersey Cop's Shooting Rampage That Ended With Six Dead
Edward Lutes
Thursday, April 11, 2002
DOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A neighborhood feud caused by thrown-out criminal charges has emerged as a possible motive for a shooting spree in which a police officer shot five neighbors to death and wounded his boss, then committed suicide, Fox New has learned.
Seaside Heights Officer Edward Lutes, 42, had a serious gripe with one of his neighbors, Dominick Galliano, 51, who had been charged with exposing himself in 1999 to Lutes' then 8-year-old daughter.
Police said Lutes went to the home of Galliano and his wife, Gail, 49, killing them using a handgun and a semiautomatic assault gun called an MP5. He also killed the couple's son, 25-year-old Christopher.
Lutes then went to another home and killed Gary Williams, 48, and his wife, Tina, 46, who Fox News has learned had testified on behalf of Galliano - which led to the neighborhood feud. Galliano was cleared of all charges in 2001.
Authorities said Wednesday that Lutes indeed had apparently feuded with some of his neighbors in Dover Township. The authorities did not elaborate.
"There was a great deal of acrimony between Mr. Lutes and his neighbors," prosecutor Greg Sakowicz said. "Certainly, it wasn't a random shooting."
Some acquaintances portrayed him as the neighborhood grouch and said he had gone through bankruptcy several years ago and had lost his girlfriend in a car accident about a year ago.
AP
Tuesday: Police cars block a street in Dover Township, N.J.
Lutes shot himself in the head in his car outside a Barnegat Township home not far from where he shot his boss Tuesday night. The body of the 15-year police veteran was found Wednesday morning.
"It's a tragedy of the highest order," said William Polhemes, a former Seaside Heights police chief who knew Lutes.
The shootings happened just a mile from where a retired Newark police officer, John Mabie, allegedly went from house to house, killing his granddaughter and three neighbors Feb. 21. He has pleaded innocent.
"To do something like that, they snap," said Karen Picht, who decided to walk her 12-year-old daughter to a bus stop Wednesday morning as the manhunt was still under way.
After killing the Williamses, whose 23-year-old son jumped out of a window to escape, Lutes fled in his car to Barnegat Township and shot Seaside Heights Police Chief James Costello in the leg and the wrist. Police said the chief was leaving his home at the time after hearing about the shootings.
Costello was in satisfactory condition. From his hospital room, he said he could not explain the rampage: "I really don't know. He's a very close friend of mine."
Dover Township Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said Lutes and a neighbor were involved in an Oct. 30 criminal mischief case. He would not give details.
However, 16-year-old neighbor Christine Woldanski said Lutes told a group of kids that night to throw eggs at homes of two of his enemies. She said Lutes told them: "If you guys don't do it, I'm going to do it later."
The kids decided not to throw the eggs, Woldanski said. She said Lutes left the house and came back later with blood on his hand.
Thomas Aballo, a lawyer who represented Lutes and his father in separate bankruptcy filings several years ago, said the shootings took him by surprise. He recalled Lutes discussing problems with a department supervisor several years ago, but said the officer did not pursue any legal action against the police.
"I never got the indication of anything but a dedicated officer and an overall good guy," Aballo said.
Seaside Heights Fire Chief Reece Fisher, who had known Lutes since the 1980s, said the officer was devastated when his girlfriend was killed. "He was able to come back to the job, but who is to say what was going on inside of him?" Fisher said.
Neighbors said Lutes lived with his 12-year-old daughter and other family members.
"He used to walk his dog down the street, and he'd say hello. He wouldn't go by without saying hello," Steve Rizzolo said.
Other neighbors described Lutes as a disciplinarian, saying he set strict rules about when the children in his house could eat snacks, how they could wash their hands and what toys they could play with. "He'd stand with his mean face, just watering his lawn like he was having a bad, bad day, always," said Cara Reilly, 20.
Fox News' Anne Woolsey and Rick Leventhal and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,49941,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Edward Lutes
Thursday, April 11, 2002
DOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A neighborhood feud caused by thrown-out criminal charges has emerged as a possible motive for a shooting spree in which a police officer shot five neighbors to death and wounded his boss, then committed suicide, Fox New has learned.
Seaside Heights Officer Edward Lutes, 42, had a serious gripe with one of his neighbors, Dominick Galliano, 51, who had been charged with exposing himself in 1999 to Lutes' then 8-year-old daughter.
Police said Lutes went to the home of Galliano and his wife, Gail, 49, killing them using a handgun and a semiautomatic assault gun called an MP5. He also killed the couple's son, 25-year-old Christopher.
Lutes then went to another home and killed Gary Williams, 48, and his wife, Tina, 46, who Fox News has learned had testified on behalf of Galliano - which led to the neighborhood feud. Galliano was cleared of all charges in 2001.
Authorities said Wednesday that Lutes indeed had apparently feuded with some of his neighbors in Dover Township. The authorities did not elaborate.
"There was a great deal of acrimony between Mr. Lutes and his neighbors," prosecutor Greg Sakowicz said. "Certainly, it wasn't a random shooting."
Some acquaintances portrayed him as the neighborhood grouch and said he had gone through bankruptcy several years ago and had lost his girlfriend in a car accident about a year ago.
AP
Tuesday: Police cars block a street in Dover Township, N.J.
Lutes shot himself in the head in his car outside a Barnegat Township home not far from where he shot his boss Tuesday night. The body of the 15-year police veteran was found Wednesday morning.
"It's a tragedy of the highest order," said William Polhemes, a former Seaside Heights police chief who knew Lutes.
The shootings happened just a mile from where a retired Newark police officer, John Mabie, allegedly went from house to house, killing his granddaughter and three neighbors Feb. 21. He has pleaded innocent.
"To do something like that, they snap," said Karen Picht, who decided to walk her 12-year-old daughter to a bus stop Wednesday morning as the manhunt was still under way.
After killing the Williamses, whose 23-year-old son jumped out of a window to escape, Lutes fled in his car to Barnegat Township and shot Seaside Heights Police Chief James Costello in the leg and the wrist. Police said the chief was leaving his home at the time after hearing about the shootings.
Costello was in satisfactory condition. From his hospital room, he said he could not explain the rampage: "I really don't know. He's a very close friend of mine."
Dover Township Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said Lutes and a neighbor were involved in an Oct. 30 criminal mischief case. He would not give details.
However, 16-year-old neighbor Christine Woldanski said Lutes told a group of kids that night to throw eggs at homes of two of his enemies. She said Lutes told them: "If you guys don't do it, I'm going to do it later."
The kids decided not to throw the eggs, Woldanski said. She said Lutes left the house and came back later with blood on his hand.
Thomas Aballo, a lawyer who represented Lutes and his father in separate bankruptcy filings several years ago, said the shootings took him by surprise. He recalled Lutes discussing problems with a department supervisor several years ago, but said the officer did not pursue any legal action against the police.
"I never got the indication of anything but a dedicated officer and an overall good guy," Aballo said.
Seaside Heights Fire Chief Reece Fisher, who had known Lutes since the 1980s, said the officer was devastated when his girlfriend was killed. "He was able to come back to the job, but who is to say what was going on inside of him?" Fisher said.
Neighbors said Lutes lived with his 12-year-old daughter and other family members.
"He used to walk his dog down the street, and he'd say hello. He wouldn't go by without saying hello," Steve Rizzolo said.
Other neighbors described Lutes as a disciplinarian, saying he set strict rules about when the children in his house could eat snacks, how they could wash their hands and what toys they could play with. "He'd stand with his mean face, just watering his lawn like he was having a bad, bad day, always," said Cara Reilly, 20.
Fox News' Anne Woolsey and Rick Leventhal and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,49941,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878