Old Bridge man fatally shot; confronted police with knife

A 75-year-old Old Bridge man was shot to death by police Tuesday morning after brandishing a knife at officers who had been called to his home over reports of a disturbance, the county prosecutor said.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said Talbot Schroeder, of Cedar Grove Place in Old Bridge, was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:27 a.m. According to a statement issued by the prosecutor, "an officer of the Old Bridge Police Department "repeatedly warned" Schroeder to drop what was described as "a large kitchen knife."

The officer's name was being withheld and the prosecutor's office said it has "notified the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in accordance with state guidelines" regarding such incidents.

According to the statement, police were responding to a 5:54 a.m. call from Schroeder's home and arrived to find that he had attacked one family member and was threatening another. Schroeder had injured himself with a knife and "appeared distraught."

A preliminary investigation has determined that police had first "attempted to calm the man and repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife," the prosecutor's statement said.

There were no serious injuries to the family member who had been attacked, the statement said.

The investigation is described as active and continuing.