Brielle shooting: Suspected shooter in custody after standoff with police
A man suspected of shooting a woman in Brielle, N.J., last night held the police at bay for several hours before they arrested him this afternoon.
Two SWAT team members walk away from the scene of a standoff with a shooting suspect after the suspect was arrested in Point Pleasant, N.J., Tuesday, June 18. The suspect is accused of shooting a woman about 12 hours earlier outside a restaurant in Brielle, N.J.
Wayne Parry / AP
POINT PLEASANT, N.J.
A man suspected of shooting a woman outside a New Jersey shore restaurant early Tuesday was taken into custody without incident after holding police at bay for several hours.
Louis Cataldo, 62, of Point Pleasant was arrested at his home around 1 p.m. and charged with attempted murder and weapons offenses. He was being held at the Monmouth County Jail on $1.5 million bail, with no option to pay 10 percent in cash to gain his release.
The shooting outside the Sand Bar restaurant in Brielle took place just before 1 a.m. The victim, a 35-year-old woman whose identity was not released, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition with a single gunshot wound.
Cataldo's home is about 4 miles from the shooting scene.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office could not initially say whether the victim and the suspect knew each other, or what the nature of their relationship was.
Bud Mayo lives several units away from the suspect in the development, which is about four miles from the shooting scene. He described Cataldo as "a very quiet guy" who didn't socialize with his neighbors at the complex.
"We were awakened at 4 o'clock in the morning and asked to leave the premises because there was a shooting in Brielle and they chased the shooter to Bay Point Harbour," Mayo said.
The condominium unit was surrounded by many heavily armed law enforcement officers, including a SWAT team. Shortly after 1 p.m., police removed barricades from the complex and officers wearing body armor and carrying automatic rifles walked slowly back to their vehicles and drove away.