RAHWAY — The man who was shot by police last month after he reportedly pulled two large knives on officers in the parking lot of a local motel has been charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses, authorities said. Authorities today identified the man as Fritz Louissaint, 58 of Roselle. They said he was arrested today afternoon following his...
A member of the Union County Sheriff's Department places evidence markers at the scene of a shooting at the Kings Inn Motel, located on Route 1&9 South in Rahway.
RAHWAY — The man who was shot by police last month after he reportedly pulled two large knives on officers in the parking lot of a local motel has been charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses, authorities said.
Authorities today identified the man as Fritz Louissaint, 58 of Roselle. They said he was arrested today afternoon following his release from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, and is now being held on $162,500 bail at the Union County Jail.
Louissaint had tried to attack two uniformed officers while they were attempting to calm down the agitated man, according to the Union County Prosecutor, Theodore Romankow. Louissaint then pulled a weapon from his coat and lunged at the officers, who fired at Louissaint, Romankow said.
In a statement released this afternoon, the Prosecutor's Office did not provide the names of the officers involved or any further details of the April 16 shooting, which took place shortly before noon in the parking lot of the Kings Inn Motel on Route 1.
But Rahway Mayor James Kennedy, who said he watched the incident on video -- recorded from a camera inside a police cruiser -- after being briefed by Police Chief John Rodger, described the scene.
As the first police officer arrived, Louissaint stood in the parking lot wielding a a long, knife-like weapon that resembled a harpoon. The officer instructed him to drop it, but Louissaint refused, Kennedy said.
A second officer showed up, and the two were eventually able to persuade Louissaint to drop the weapon. The officers then approached the man and told him to place his hands against a car. But as they drew closer, Louissaint pulled out a second knife, according to the mayor.
"He's got his hand over his head, like in the movie 'Psycho,' and lunges at them," Kennedy recounted of the incident. "It was very disturbing."
One of the officers pushed the other away and fired at the man, Kennedy said. But the video shows the man kept attacking, turning his attention toward the officer who had fired at him, the mayor said.
It is not clear whether the second officer also fired.
"You can see where they're standing and you can see them backing up," Kennedy said of the officers, who fired several more shots.
