14 DAY TRIAL // A 35-year-old woman was shot early Tuesday morning, June 18, in the town of Brielle in New Jersey, reports say.
The unidentified victim was in the parking lot of the Sand Bar Restaurant when she was approached by a man who opened fire, a rep for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office tells the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
She was shot at 12:55 a.m. and she has incurred life-threatening wounds. She was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where she was stabilized.
Spokesman Charles Webster has informed on Tuesday afternoon that police have a suspect in custody following a lengthy standoff.
62-year-old Louis Cataldo of Bay Point Harbour in Point Pleasant has been arrested for shooting the woman, and there is no information available about the gunman's motivation at this point.
Police followed the suspect to his home where they met resistance to the arrest. The man refused to come out of the residence.
He was captured at 1:50 p.m. after an operation involving the local PD and the Ocean County SWAT team.
"An Ocean County SWAT team showed up and explained to us that there was a shooting in Brielle at 1 o'clock this morning and that they had tracked the shooter down to one of the residences here," describes neighbor Bud Mayo.
The area was evacuated at 4 a.m. as officials embarked on a standoff. Residents described the shooter as a quiet man who "had a restaurant/bar and spent a lot of time there."
"But again very quiet, never bothered anybody, and well-liked as far as I can tell. [...] So I don't know what happened," May says.
Cataldo has been booked into Monmouth County Correctional Institution and he faces attempted murder and gun charges for possessing a weapon with the intent of using it for an unlawful purpose.