There is an active investigation into an incident where a man reportedly shot himself at the Bloomfield Police precinct on Tuesday evening.
Bloomfield Police has not released many details on the incident, but according to the family of the man, they identified him as Mr. Pat Montella -who was a retired Newark Police Lieutenant- said the conflict initiated as a domestic incident where Patrick and his wife were removed from a Bloomfield residence after a dispute.
According to a statement one of the family members publicly released, Lt. Montella was out having dinner with his wife who is an active Newark Police officer and began to confront her about a lengthy investigation involving their relationship.
The couple then left the restaurant where police were called to an unidentified location and arrested both of them for the domestic violence incident according to the Lt. Patrick Montello's family member.
While inside headquarters, police took the Montello's weapons and while Lt. Montello was in the cell block for over an hour, the family said Bloomfield officials told them that Patrick committed suicide with his own gun during the time frame.
EMS rushed Patrick to University Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
"They claimed that the gun was exposed on a table and so, he was able to chamber one into an empty weapon and shoot himself in the head," Patrick's family members said.
A request for public information has been sent to The Essex County Prosecutor's Office and The Bloomfield Police Department.
**ECPO UPDATED 1:56 P.M.** : Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, announced today that the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating an apparent suicide that occurred in the Bloomfield Police Department.
The preliminary investigation indicates that last night retired Newark Police Lt. Patrick Montella, 58, of Bloomfield, who had been arrested for an alleged act of domestic violence and was expected to be released on a summons, shot himself in the Bloomfield Police Department while he was being processed.
He was transported to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:16 a.m. today.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
No other information is available at this time.