57-year-old man fatally shot by Ocean County SWAT team

A county SWAT team shot and killed a man who officers said was armed with a handgun, after his wife called police so say he was acting strangely, authorities said

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LITTLE EGG HARBOR -- The State Attorney General's office is investigating a fatal shooting by an Ocean County SWAT team, authorities said Sunday.

The shooting occurred Saturday at 10:30 p.m., in Little Egg Harbor Township, resulting in the death of 57-year-old Patrick Fennell, a Little Egg Harbor resident, according to a statement from Acting Attorney General Christopher Porrino's office.

Patch.com reported that Fennell was a retired New York City Police officer. A spokesman for Porrino's office, Paul Loriquet, said the office had heard that Fennell was an NYPD officer, but the office had not been able to confirm that information over the weekend.

Porrino's office said a preliminary investigation indicated that the Egg Harbor Township Police Department received a call from Fennell's wife reporting that he was acting strangely.

"She reported that he was in the basement of their home, where he had weapons, and she thought she heard gunfire," the statement said.

Local police arrived at the couple's Sycamore Drive home and called for backup from the county SWAT team. Just after the team arrived, Fennell fled the house into a wooded area, the statement said. Officers reported seeing Fennell holding a handgun when he came out of the house. 

"At approximately 10:30 p.m., officers confronted Fennell, who allegedly was armed with a handgun," the statement said. "An officer or officers from the SWAT team fired multiple rounds, striking Fennell.  Police recovered a handgun at the scene of the shooting. Fennell died at the scene."

The Attorney General's Shooting Response Team is handling the investigation.

A spokesman for Porrino's office declined to elaborate on the statement.

It was the second fatal police shooting in eight months in Little Egg Harbor, after several officers shot and killed a man they said was brandishing a knife in November.