Three people found dead inside a New Jersey home earlier this week have been identified as the mother and grandparents of their suspected killer, who was later shot dead during a confrontation with law enforcement.
“There is a husband that is about to bury a wife, parents and a son,” Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler told local news media on Tuesday. “This is all folks that all knew each other and were related to each other blood wise.”
Officers from the Piscataway Police Department responded on Monday to a residence near the intersection of Mitchell Avenue and River Road, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said. When they arrived on the scene around 5:30 p.m., they tried to speak to the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Jordan Barnes, through a closed door. According to the police report, obtained by MyCentralJersey.com, an officer at one point spotted two people unresponsive inside the home on the floor. They then opened the door to find Barnes armed with a knife, police said.
Officers at that point ordered Barnes to drop his weapon, but he ignored their commands and continued to advance. Three officers then deployed their stun guns, but they had little effect on Barnes, the attorney general’s office said. Eventually, authorities opened fire, fatally striking the suspect. Authorities later recovered two knives near his body.
Inside the home, officers discovered three bodies, all of them dead from apparent stab wounds. They were identified on Tuesday by the attorney general’s office as Jeanmarie Barnes, 60, Richard Barnes, 86, and Brenda Barnes, 84.
An investigation into the matter is ongoing.
