Neighbor shoots husband, wife in Ocean County, NJ, before killing himself: Prosecutor

Authorities in Ocean County say a husband and wife were both shot by their next-door neighbor Monday afternoon before he took his own life.

The incident happened around 4:45 on Drake Drive in Berkeley Township.

At the scene, officers found a man and a woman, both with gunshot wounds. They were both airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where they are each listed in critical but stable condition.

An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and the Berkeley Township Police Department revealed that the victims had been shot by their next-door neighbor, 54-year-old John Adamo.

Officials say Adamo shot the husband while he was outside of the neighboring home and then he shot into that home, wounding the woman.

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After the shootings, Adamo retreated into his own house. After a 2 1/2-hour standoff with police, a SWAT team entered his home and Adamo was found dead in an upstairs bedroom from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Members of the SWAT Team also say they saw a pressure cooker inside of that bedroom. At that time, neighboring homes were evacuated for safety concerns. The New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad determined the pressure cooker was not an explosive device.

Officials did not give a reason as to why Adamo shot his neighbors.