Driver Dies After Being Pulled Over At Woodbridge Gas Station

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A man appears to have shot himself after a traffic stop by Woodbridge Police on June 14, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said.

Woodbridge Police officers stopped a van at a gas station on Rt. 9 north shortly after 6:30 p,m,, officials said. During the stop, officers learned the man driving had an active National Crime Information Center warrant out for his arrest in an active criminal investigation in Nassau County, New York, said Platkin.

The Attorney General did not release the man's name.

When Woodbridge Police officers asked the man to exit the van, he refused to get out and instead moved to the van’s rear compartment, behind a curtain and out of the officers’ view, said the Attorney General.

Police officers broke the van’s windows and used oleoresin capsicum, or pepper spray, to try to get the man to exit. Less than 15 minutes later, officers on scene reported hearing a loud noise that sounded like a firework.

After receiving support personnel to the scene, officers found the man dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Preliminary information indicates that no law enforcement officers fired their weapons, officials said.

A shotgun was recovered from inside the van.

This is the second time in less than 72 hours a man died during an encounter with police in Woodbridge. At 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 13, a man wanted for an attempted homicide in New York City, Karl Gregory, 46, of New York, was shot and killed by police officers in a shoot-out in the lobby of the Raritan Hotel/Royal Albert’s Palace on King Georges Post Road in Woodbridge.

Woodbridge Police patrolman Justin Nerney and NYPD Detective Matthew Mauro were also shot by the suspect, said the AG. Both have since been released from the hospital and are recovering at home.

Read last week's story about the shoot-out at the Royal Albert: Names Released Of 2 Police Officers Shot In Woodbridge, Plus Shooter