Driver crashes, shoots dog and then is killed by cops — 2nd police shooting in NJ

A bizarre and deadly police encounter in Warren County was one of two reported police-involved shootings this weekend in the state.

State officials said state troopers who had responded to a single-car crash in Knowlton just after 1:30 a.m. Sunday ended up fatally shooting the driver after the man shot his dog in the car.

Troopers had been dispatched to 17 Starlite Hill Road, a rural residential street running along Route 80 and the Delaware River. Troopers found the man's car with the front end in a ditch. The driver and dog were inside the car, police said.

"While Troopers were attempting to communicate with the driver, the driver fired a weapon from within the vehicle and shot the dog. Troopers then fired their weapons," according to a statement by the state Attorney General's Office, which routinely investigates fatal police encounters and shootings involving police.

State prosecutors have not released other details about the encounter, other than that the man was hospitalized and pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m.

Earlier this weekend, police in Long Branch were engaged in an armed standoff with a man who had opened fire on police officers, striking one in the leg. The officers had entered the apartment with a warrant involving a homicide investigation.

State officials said that man was shot and killed by police after he came out of the residential building about 2:30 a.m. while firing his gun. The injured officer was released from the hospital.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story should have said the police shooting in Knowltown occurred after 1:30 a.m. Sunday.