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2nd NJ councilmember shot dead in a week. Authorities say it's an isolated incident.
By
Gwynne Hogan
,
Nancy Solomon
and
Karen Yi
Published Feb 9, 2023
Modified Feb 10, 2023
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Russ Heller via Facebook
By
Gwynne Hogan
,
Nancy Solomon
and
Karen Yi
Published Feb 9, 2023
Modified Feb 10, 2023
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A New Jersey councilmember in the borough of Milford was shot and killed on Wednesday, prosecutors in Somerset County said. His suspected killer was found dead shortly afterward, from what authorities said appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
It was the second homicide of a New Jersey councilmember in less than a week, though authorities have given no indication the events were connected. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office called the shooting an “isolated incident.”
The incident unfolded in a PSE&G parking lot in Franklin Township. The victim, Russell Heller, worked as a senior distribution supervisor, according to PSE&G.
Heller, 51 and a Republican, also served on the Milford Borough Council, a role he’d had for the past four years, according to borough officials.
Frank Roman, deputy chief of the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, said the shooting “was not politically connected with his elected office or political affiliation.” Roman said a motive for the incident remains under investigation.
Shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, police responded to multiple 911 calls about a shooting victim, and found Heller suffering from a gunshot wound, the Somerset County Prosecutor's office said. He was rushed to a hospital but soon died.
The prosecutor's office said investigators learned that Gary Curtis, a 58-year-old former PSE&G employee from Washington Township in Warren County, had approached Heller in the parking lot and shot him outside of his vehicle. They tracked Curtis' car to a parking lot one town over from the shooting, in Bridgewater Township, the prosecutor's office said. It didn't specify how investigators identified and located Curtis.
There, local police officers found Curtis in his car with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the prosecutor's office. He died at the scene.
A proud son of Milford
Heller was born and raised in Milford, where his family had strong roots and a history of community service, according to Karen Dysart, the Milford borough clerk.
He replaced his mother, Carole Heller, on the city council, and his father, Robert Heller, is a former mayor, Dysart said. She added that he lived next door to his parents.
“He always comes in with a big smile. And, you know, a funny comment for us all,” Dysart said. “It's just devastation. He is the nicest, nicest person you would ever wanna meet. “Always a smile and a good word. Always. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.”
Milford has 1,200 residents and is a small Delaware River town in the northeast corner of New Jersey, just north of the Delaware Water Gap.
“Everyone knows everyone. We have a small little school, a nice downtown area with restaurants and everything's in walking distance,” Dysart said. “It's just one of those kind of towns where everybody knows everybody.”
Heller “was a detail-oriented guy, but with fun,” Mayor Henry Schepens said. Heller got a big laugh out of everyone at the most recent council meeting, on Monday, because he showed up with his laptop, the mayor recalled.
“We all work off paper, we're old school,” Schepens said. “He was just so jovial. … He made a tough job — because being a councilman is not easy — he made it fun, and he made us all, you know, enjoy our council meetings with him.”
Heller’s Facebook page proudly displays his daughter, Kayla, who graduated from high school in 2021. She is 19 years old, Dysart and Schepens said.
Schepens described the incident as an “unfathomable tragedy.”
“We are just taken aback by this senseless violence,” he said. “You’re supposed to come home after work.”
Rebecca Mazzarella, a spokesperson for PSE&G, said Heller was a senior distribution supervisor at the utility, and had worked with the company for more than a decade.
“He will be sorely missed by all and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time,” she said. “This event is tragic and disturbing and we are offering support to our employees as they process this.
Zachary T. Rich, director of the Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners, said the countywide governing body shares “in the collective shock and grief felt upon learning of Russell Heller’s senseless shooting death today.”
“Russell was a dedicated and valuable member of the Milford and Hunterdon County community whose leadership and commitment will be sorely missed,” Rich said.
Authorities say Gary T. Curtis, age 58, of Washington, New Jersey shot and killed Russell D. Heller. Curtis was found dead, with a gun, in a PSE&G parking lot.
Somerset County Prosecutor's Office
The suspected killer
Roman said details on Curtis’ prior employment at PSE&G are still under investigation, and referred further questions on his work history to the company. Mazzarella, the PSE&G spokesperson, declined further comment beyond the company’s statement.
IBEW 94 NJ, which represents a large share of PSE&G workers, has not yet returned a call and email for comment on whether it represented Curtis or Heller.
Authorities said Curtis lived in Washington Township in Warren County, a 2 square mile municipality of 7,000 residents. That’s about 40 miles from where the shooting incident occurred, in neighboring Somerset County.
Court records show a home of Curtis’ in Tinton Falls, in Monmouth County, was foreclosed and sold in a sheriff’s sale in 2019.
Two officials’ killings in one week
Just last week, one county over in Middlesex, Eunice Dwumfour, a 30-year-old member of the Sayreville Borough Council, was shot multiple times in her car on Feb. 1. Authorities have not announced any arrests.
Dwumfour joined the council last year. She and fellow Republican Christian Onuoha, the council's president, campaigned together in 2021 and unseated two Democrats. Friends and fellow officials described her as deeply devoted to the community and her Christian faith. She was recently married and had a preteen daughter.
Sharon Lauchaire, a spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office, declined to say if that office was investigating Heller's death. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office hasn't yet returned a request for comment Thursday, and has previously said it doesn't intend to comment on the ongoing investigation into Dwumfour's death.
Tagged
suicidal
new jersey
homicide investigation
Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Nancy Solomon
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Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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