Suspect came out of NJ hotel elevator and started shooting up lobby

WOODBRIDGE — Like a scene out of a movie, a homicide suspect who police had tracked from New York to a hotel in this Central Jersey township, came down the elevator, pulled a firearm out of a bag, and began shooting up the lobby, police said.

The exchange between the suspect and police on Thursday left the gunman dead and two officers hospitalized. The cops have since been released.

A Woodbridge police officer and another from the NYPD were each shot just after midnight inside the Royal Albert’s Palace hotel, also known as the Raritan Hotel, by a "person of interest" in a New York City homicide, according to Platkin.

Officers returned fire, killing the suspect. The NYPD officer was shot in the foot and the Woodbridge officer in the back.

State Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Thursday night that events began to unfold after the suspect's vehicle was detected by an automated license plate reader by Edison police. The unoccupied vehicle was found in the parking lot and the NYPD was notified.

As officers interviewed people in the lobby, the suspect came out of an elevator holding bags. When he saw police, he dropped the bags and reached into a black backpack, pulled out a gun and fired at the officers, according to Platkin.

Woodbridge police officers tended to the suspect’s wounds but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Praise for  technology

The NYPD has not disclosed details about the homicide.  Platkin did not disclose the identities of the suspect or the injured officers.

Platkin and Edison police Chief Thomas Bryan sang the praises of the license plate readers.

"I underscore how important this technology is and it's why the investments we've made in ALPR technology have allowed us to take extraordinary steps to keep our citizens safe," Platkin said during a press briefing Thursday.

Bryan said that the technology is a great law enforcement tool but it's the officers using it that makes it that way. The chief was proud of the officers' "keen observation" that identified the vehicle.