Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said that at approximately 7:02 a.m. on Wednesday, Franklin Township Police responded to multiple 9-1-1 calls reporting a shooting victim within the parking lot of PSE&G, on Weston Canal Road in Somerset. Responding Officers encountered a deceased adult male suffering from a gunshot wound. Emergency Medical Personnel from an area Trauma Center responded to the scene where the male was pronounced deceased. Authorities identified the decedent as Russell D. Heller, age 51, Milford, New Jersey. Heller was actively employed with PSE&G at the Somerset facility.
McDonald said that detectives from the Franklin Township Police Department along with the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the Crime Scene Investigations Unit, and investigators from the New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene to conduct the investigation. The investigation revealed that a former employee of PSEG, whom authorities identified as Gary T. Curtis, age 58, Washington, New Jersey approached Mr. Heller in the parking lot, shooting him outside of his vehicle.
Prosecutor McDonald said that at approximately 10:20 a.m., detectives assigned to the investigation were able to track Curtis to a parking lot area in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey. With the assistance of Bridgewater Township Police Officers, authorities approached the vehicle Curtis was operating and observed him suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Medical personnel were requested to the scene and Curtis was pronounced deceased. The investigation remains ongoing to determine the motive. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the shooting was an isolated incident and Heller was the intended target.