Two New Jersey council members were shot dead in the past week, officials said Wednesday. Russell D. Heller, 51, was gunned down Wednesday outside the Franklin office of the energy company PSE&G, where he worked. The Republican councilman, who represented the borough of Milford in Hunterdon County, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. “He was so full of life, it’s just unbelievable that he’s gone,” Milford Mayor Henri Schepens said. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office said Gary T. Curtis, a former PSE&G employee, shot Heller before fleeing and taking his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A motive has not been disclosed, but authorities believe the shooting was targeted and an isolated incident. It comes just a week after Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, 30, was found with multiple gunshot wounds inside a crashed car outside her home. The GOP official was pronounced dead at the scene, and authorities have yet to make any arrests.
I am shocked and saddened by the tragic murder of Milford Councilman Russell Heller. Russell was an outstanding public servant who proudly represented the river town he loved. My prayers are with his family and the Milford community.
