The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A veteran Franklin Township police detective was one of a handful of cops from the township and New Brunswick who were involved in an officer-involved shooting of a man wielding a machete on Route 27 on September 1.
The unidentified man was shot in the leg and taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. The man is expected to survive, according to the source.
Township and New Brunswick police were called with a report of a man threatening people with the machete on the Franklin side of Route 27, near Juliet Avenue, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
The incident moved across Rt. 27 to the New Brunswick side, where the man can be seen on a video lunging at officers with his machete.
The video shows several shots ring out, and the man falls to the ground.
The source said it’s not yet known which officer hit the man; that won’t be determined until ballistic tests are conducted.
Route 27, between Juliet and Douglas avenues, was closed for five hours during the investigation.
Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Detective Kevin Schroeck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732)745-4054.
