Police officer found dead in New Jersey Park

Veteran police officer found dead in Union County park in apparent suicide
By Tom Haydon and Tom Wright-Piersanti
The Star-Ledger

UNION TOWNSHIP — The body of a 25-year veteran of the Union County Police Department was found in a township park this morning, the victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

The 50-year-old officer, who has not been identified, apparently shot himself while seated on a metal bench running alongside the first-base line of a small softball field at Kawameeh Park, said Sebastian D’Elia, Union County communications director.

The officer, whose body was was discovered by a passerby just before 8 a.m., was not in uniform or on duty, D’Elia said.

This is the second park-related public suicide in less than a week in New Jersey. Last Friday, a Carteret man was found hanging from a tennis court fence post at Carteret Park, next to Carteret Middle School.
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