Russell Heller is the second local council member shot to death in New Jersey after Eunice Dwumfour was found dead in her car with multiple gunshot wounds last week – is there a connection, or is it a coincidence?
NJ politician found shot to death in car
On February 8, 2023, a Republican borough councilwoman from Milford, 51-year-old Russell Heller, a White male, was fatally shot in the parking lot outside his job at PSE&G, NBC reported.
Detectives are still working toward establishing a motive in the incident, according to the prosecutor’s office.
NJ politician killed in hail of gunfire
On February 1, 2023, a Republican borough councilwoman from Sayreville, 30-year-old Eunice Dwumfour, a Black woman, was killed in a barrage of gunfire in front of her townhouse, according to authorities, Fox reported.
Dwumfour was found inside her white Nissan SUV, dead from multiple gunshot wounds, ABC reported.
Witnesses told reporters they heard at least a half-dozen gunshots before Dwumfour’s SUV slammed into a row of parked cars. Minutes before the shooting, a nearby surveillance camera captured images of a figure running away from the area.
The FBI has assigned a team of investigators who are working with the Sayreville police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office in developing a motive and suspect.
Detectives solve Heller case
Authorities quickly identified Gary T. Curtis, 58, of Washington, a former PSE&G employee, as having approached Heller in the parking lot and shot him outside his vehicle, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Hours later, detectives tracked down Curtis in a parking lot area in Bridgewater Township. Curtis was found suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was in possession of the firearm. Curtis was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
Authorities announced on Friday that the shooting that killed Heller stemmed from a workplace dispute, where he had been a supervisor for 11 years, CBS reported.
According to a statement from the Somerset County prosecutor’s office, “The investigation has revealed that the shooting of Mr. Heller was not politically connected with his elected office or political affiliation.”
The shooting was due to “prior employment disciplinary actions between subordinate and supervisor,” the statement added.
Authorities looking at church in Dwumfour case
Authorities are now looking at the Champions Royal Assembly church in Newark; Dwumfour was reportedly an active member, had once been a pastor there, and was involved in the church’s finances.
“She was a treasurer with her church,” John Wisniewski, a former Democratic state assemblyman, told News 12. “Anytime that you’re dealing with money, sometimes there are people who are not happy.”
