Second Republican Councilmember in New Jersey killed in a week: 'A Dedicated and Loyal Friend'

By 
 February 10, 2023

A Republican councilman in Milford, New Jersey, was shot and killed on Wednesday, just one week after another councilman was killed.

Russell D. Heller, 51, a PSE&G employee, was allegedly killed by an ex-employee in Somerset, according to Patch.com. Authorities are still investigating the shooting, but they say it has nothing to do with Heller's elected office or political affiliations, according to Breitbart News.

Heller, according to Zachary T. Rich, Director of the Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners, "was a loving and caring father to his daughter and a dedicated and loyal friend to all of those who had the pleasure of knowing him."

According to police, Heller was at work when a former employee, identified as 58-year-old Gary T. Curtis, fatally shot him in the parking lot. Aerial video footage shows authorities covering a vehicle at the scene with a tarp:

When the officers discovered Heller, emergency personnel arrived and pronounced him dead. Curtis was eventually found in a parking lot in Bridgewater Township by detectives, who discovered him with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect was carrying a gun and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

“The investigation remains ongoing to determine a motive. A preliminary investigation found that the shooting was an isolated incident and Heller was the intended target,” the Patch.com report said.

Eunice Dwumfour, 30, of Sayreville, was fatally shot while inside her vehicle before it crashed outside her home on February 1. The investigation is still ongoing.

Background

According to News 12 the Bronx, surveillance video may have captured the suspect in Dwumfour's fatal shooting.

“The video was recorded around 7 p.m. – right around the time Dwumfour was killed,” the outlet said.

“The video is not very clear but does match witness accounts that the gunman ran along an area of grass between two buildings and made his escape through a wooded path that borders the complex,” the report stated.

However, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has not released any information about a suspect or a motive. Her unsolved death follows a string of strange incidents in which New Jersey politicians have been killed or targeted for homicide.

According to Breitbart News, the husband and 20-year-old son of federal judge Esther Salas were shot at their home in New Jersey in 2020.

A suspect in the fatal shooting was later discovered dead from a gunshot wound he inflicted on himself. Furthermore, a criminal case involving what appeared to be a formal murder-for-hire scheme catering to political figures gripped the state last year.

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