They said they told him to drop the gun. Did they? If he could not see them why would he drop the gun? It could have been ANYONE saying drop the gun. The police shoot first & ask questions afterward. The police have NO right to shoot someone because they are holding a gun ON THEIR OWN PROPERTY. They also SHOOT TO KILL. Remember that poor African who was shot by several cops in NY and who had no gun? They are too GUNG HO. Everybody better hope no friend of theirs sends police to check on them !! Surely being a policeman is dangerous. They know that going in. If I shot someone with no provable cause my butt would be in jail.
DISCRETION is a foreign word to most police. I find officials in general consider you are GUILTY even after you prove you are innocent unless someone in power sticks up for you.

since when do you check up on people with guns drawn.

the owner has every right to use his gun if his life was in danger.Gun was legally registered.

looks like quinn was only on the force since 2008.Looks like a rookie.

Let me just spell this out so everyone gets it...

In NJ it is not legal for you to bring a weapon outside of your house. That includes your porch! This is why we have these laws. Learn them, Know Them, Live Them and maybe you will avoid making the same choices this man did.

The story is getting distorted..I know none of the people involved 1 the police were called there....2 he just happens to take a stroll with a hand gun outside of his (illegal) nobody broke in he was life was not threatened 3. he was told to drop the gun instead aim it at the PD well you pretty much can figure whats going to happen next..I have a weapon theres things you dont do taking a stroll outside is one .He also had mental issues along with owning a gun..BAD MIX....

OMG !!!!!Can't believe some posts I am reading. Felicia !!!!!!!....We do not live in a society of 'The Waltons" or "Little House " anymore. Now this did not occur in a bad big city...like Camden, Newark, Phili, NYC....but it happend. You have no idea what it is like having a gun or even thinking someone has one and is going to pull it out an use it .....if I hear someone say drop it.....or i see lights and cop cars looking at me...I am going to listen even if I am some non english speaking immigrant, society did me wrong person. I am sure these cops had lights and sirens going off where this guy could not realize that some type of authority figure was present. If you think this way then go take a ride with a cop in Camden...someplace close by and see what goes on outside the country club of the jersey shore. Go to Camden or Newark and see how quick you can be in danger and hope the cop who comes to rescue your liberal self ,says lets "not be trigger happy"" lets try and talk things out with this person" when you feel your life is in danger......see how quick you want that cop to rescue you. Go see what the poor EMT/Paramedics go through when trying to respond to 911 calls....getting shot at and beat up. Do you have any idea how people act like barbarians...we were not there and don't know what was said or done...I don't think cops go out and say they want to shoot and ask ? later. You have no clue so don't give an opinion on something you don't know.

For all of you people saying "if you had a gun pulled on you" scenarios, it's not as big a deal as you think believe it or not. I've had one gun held to my head in NY and two knives pulled on me,one in Wildwood NJ, and the other in Hempstead Long Island, so speaking from experience, it's not as bad as you may think. Granted it is a matter of opinion, but to me, they were issues I dealt with. Being a cop with body armor (guessing) a car or tree to hide behind for cover and ordering him to drop the weapon might have been a better route for the cop. It's my opinion and I am entitled to it as much as you are to disagree.

Jeff Scott If you look to the right of the write up you will see the heading SEE MORE ON PATCH there you will find a articles written on march 4th an16th you may find them interesting

*Now

Just read the Asbury park press on the web . Suit up tp to 10 million WOW! Who got it right ? See how things get twisted .Wait for the facts . Not hear say.

We weren't there, so everything here is speculation. My understanding is there are eyewitnesses to this event, both police and civilians. Opinions are opinions and facts are facts. I'm a strong believer in our justice system and the courts are the place where justice is best served. I think we all need a lot more information on the events that occurred that night and the testimony in court will provide such. Until then, speculation will rule and facts will become distorted in favor of your opinions. In the end, the courts will have the final say. It’s not a perfect system but it does have an impressive record.

YOU ALL need to reread the article CAREFULLY. The guy who was shot on his porch was NOT reported DRUNK. It was the guy who called 911 to go check on his friend (the shooting victim) who WAS DRUNK. Read it again. The guy who called 911 (from his own home) was drunk, not the guy in his house who was shot.

Stop calling the victim a "drunk" , "mentally unstable" or a "lunatic". Where are you getting this stuff?? The man was awakened by his dog barking, and hearing people around his house IN THE DARK. He grabbed an UNLOADED gun, and opened his front door.... Obviously he only meant to scare away any intruders- hardly a "lunatic" action. Eye witnesses say the man was shot while his "arms were at his side" even though yes, he had a gun in one hand. (Read the other patch stories about this). The cops also failed to call for EMTs in a reasonable amount of time, and NO ONE ATTEMPTED CPR or emergency medical assistance in any way.
That's why the family is suing, and has a right to sue! There are several levels of "stupid" and "failure" to this situation.

There is always more to the story than the news will report, and the news will not be impartial. Unfortunatly the PD cannot defend themselves in the media so we will only hear one side. I bet their side has details that MIGHT make you people change your opinion. That goes with any story.

Yes..lets award this "poor" man 10 million dollars of taxpayers money for undoubtedly he will donate a substantial portion to the proper retraining of the officers to correctly deal with future situations like this ... give me a break.

As a law abiding citizen, owning a legally registered fire arm you should know the rules about what you can and cannot do with that firearm, especially in this state. First, the Castle Doctrine does not apply in Nj, which allows you to use deadly force if someone breaks into your home...you have to do everything necessary to get out of the situation before you can even think about firing your weapon for self-protection including retreating from your own home. So walking outside with a gun in a defensive manner technically is illegal.
Second, the weapon was unloaded...I am pretty sure that a police officer walking up to that house was not aware of the condition of his weapon. The gentlemen walked outside in a defensive manner to confront someone, with a weapon; one would have to assume it is loaded and ready to fire.

so if someone shot my family member on my front lawn i cannot go out to my lawn and shoot the killer?I have to wait until he comes in my house to try to kill me?

going on my lawn would be considered defense because i want to protect my self?

no jury in the world would convict me.

According to this article, he walked out of the house and than pointed the gun at the cop.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/ocean/family-suing-police-ocean-township-for-million-in-relative-s/article_4991706c-fb92-11e0-acbc-001cc4c002e0.html

Not saying it is set in stone. Like I said the truth will come out in court (I Hope). The reason I call them money hungry is because where were these people when this guy really needed help? Why werent they there to take his firearms out of his house if they knew his state? We see it time and time again, all of a sudden when someone has an opportunity to benefit all of the family members are up in arms wanting to sue for negligence. 3/4 of the time they should be sued for negligence for not caring about the person until it was to late. Ask anyone who has won the lottery, they are the perfect example. Family members come out of the woodwork with dollar signs in their eyes.

If their intentions are right (And they do win) than all of that $ should be put right into a charity. Otherwise, they are profiting from someone elses death and tragedy.

Also the paper just doesnt print whatever they want. Although I will admit there has been a slew of incidents where their information was incorrect. They still had to have gotten that from some sort of official source. And at this point it is all anyone has to go on besides the previous articles.

Looks like mistakes were made on both sides. The police are most at fault for hiding in the shadows and not announcing their presence when they saw the man had a gun inside his home. I'm not a cop and know that to be a standard proceedure. Also, if they knew the man was armed and was coming outside he could have been tazed. Being awakened by a barking dog while in an alcohol induced stupor makes an individual an incoherent mess! These police officers should have backed off to their cars, announced themselves and tried to diffuse the situation through verbal communications. Looks like a clear case of rookie nerves!

I agree. The fact is no one tried to force there way in his car or house he have had to see the police car and them he could have hid the gun..there was no threat to him but he pulled his gun..what were you think was going to happen next.

By the way depression is a mental health issue.

Cops don't carry Tasers in NJ SJFireguy!!!