Off-duty Newark cop shoots, kills Piscataway man after bar fight

UNION TOWNSHIP — A 37-year-old father from Piscataway was shot dead by an off-duty Newark police officer early Friday after the two got into a fight outside a bar in this Union County township, authorities said.

Michael Gaffney was fatally shot outside Paddy’s Place on Rosemont Avenue, where he was pronounced dead, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.

The name of the officer, an 11-year veteran of the Newark force, was not released and the officer has not been charged with any crime. The off-duty cop was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident is being investigated by the county prosecutor, which is tasked with probing all shootings involving police in its jurisdiction.

Authorities in the state never volunteer the identities of officers involved in shootings unless they have been charged with a crime.

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said Friday the city "will not comprise his safety by revealing his name.”

“The investigation into this matter, which remains ongoing, is being conducted in strict accordance with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General guidelines governing all investigations into incidents involving use of deadly force by law enforcement,” a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said Friday.

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