By: Richard L. Smith
A Toms River man has been sentenced to state prison following a 2024 shooting that left one man injured, according to information released by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Anthony Brown, 20, was sentenced on March 21, by the Honorable David M. Fritch, J.S.C., to a total of five years in New Jersey State Prison.
The sentence stems from Brown’s guilty pleas to aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, both in connection to a shooting incident that took place in Toms River on June 12, 2024.
Judge Fritch imposed a four-year sentence for the aggravated assault charge and a five-year sentence—with 42 months of parole ineligibility—for the weapons offense.
Both sentences will run concurrently. Brown entered his guilty pleas on January 21, 2025.
The charges are linked to an incident that occurred around 11:30 p.m. on June 12, 2024. Toms River Township Police responded to a home on Adams Avenue after receiving reports of gunfire.
A joint investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit and Toms River Police revealed that Brown had retrieved a handgun from the residence and fired two shots at a vehicle, striking a male victim.
Brown then fled the scene, as did the victim.
Shortly after the initial call, police were dispatched to another residence on Main Street for a report of a gunshot victim.
Authorities confirmed that the injured man was the same individual involved in the Adams Avenue shooting.
He was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was treated and later released.
Brown was located and arrested without incident later that night near the scene of the shooting. He has remained in custody at the Ocean County Jail since his arrest.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office led the investigation in partnership with the Toms River Township Police Department.
