After fatal shooting at friend’s house, unhinged man dies in struggle with NJ troopers

🚨 Armond Avitable fired a gun at his friend and his wife

🚨 Troopers caught Avitable along Routes 46 and 80

🚨 After a struggle with four troopers, Avitable stopped moving

KNOWLTON — Attorney General Matt Platkin released body cam video of the State Police's struggle to control a highly agitated and incoherent suspect after a fatal shooting on Feb. 12, 2024.

State officials have not announced any charges against any troopers.

Officials say Armond Anthony Avitable IV, 38, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, went on an unhinged shooting rampage at his friend's house, killing his friend's wife.

It all started when Avitable called his friend, Kevin Schilling, after being kicked out of his home, according to the Warren County Prosecutor's Office.

Schilling drove 10 miles to pick up his friend. Once they returned to Schilling's house in the Columbia section of Knowlton, Avitable became "agitated and aggressive" and argued with the couple, according to the prosecutor.

Avitable found a pump-action shotgun in the home and fired a shot, forcing the Schillings to retreat to their second-floor bedroom, officials said.

Avitable followed them, opened the door and fired two shots, fatally wounding Cheryl Schilling in the arm and upper left torso. She was later pronounced dead at the home.

Avitable went to a neighbor's home where the residents were in the yard and told them Kevin Schilling was "coming for him."

Avitable fired two more shots at the Schilling home by Avitable before he dropped the gun and ran away, officials said.

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Struggle with troopers

The 17-minute footage released by Platkin showed four troopers struggling to hold a shirtless and heavily tattooed Avitable on the ground in a grassy area between Routes 46 and 80.

A raving mad Avitable thrashed around on the ground, pleading for troopers not to kill him, shouting that someone was out to get him, and to "think of his wife."

After cursing and yelling at him to stop moving or trying to grab their weapons, troopers told him to relax and checked him for injuries. They found what they suspected was a bag of cocaine on him.

As a restrained Avitable with his face down on the ground continued to pant and shout that he couldn't breathe, a trooper calmly told him to take a breath and tried to engage him in conversation. Another trooper, meanwhile, called for an ambulance.

Troopers then rolled Avitable from his stomach into a sitting position with a trooper continuing to hold the agitated suspect by his arms.

More troopers then began to hold him down because they said he kept kicking.

Suddenly, Avitable stopped moving. They rolled him to the side and began taking lifesaving actions, including using an automated external defibrillator, until first responders arrived.

According to Platkin, Avitable suffered a "medical emergency" and was taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono in East Stroudsburg, where he was pronounced dead.

Per state policy, the Attorney General's Office is required to investigate a person's death that occurs during an encounter with law enforcement.

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