Newark policeman fires and kills ex-wife, hurts boyfriend, authorities say

A Newark police officer killed his ex-wife and injured his boyfriend during a shootout Sunday night in Morris County before being arrested at his parents' home Monday morning, authorities said. .

Lieutenant John Formisano, a 24-year-old veteran, opened fire at a Mirror Place home in Jefferson at around 11:20 pm, a Newark police spokesman said Monday morning. His wife's name was not available immediately. The condition of her boyfriend was also unknown.

Formisano was arrested at her parents' home in Livingston around 2 am, a spokeswoman for the Essex County District Attorney's Office said.

Mike Winslow, who has lived in the neighborhood for three years, says he knew the police officer lived there but did not know him personally.

"Everyone here is talking to his neighbors," said Winslow. "It's a very quiet community"

The neighbors say they heard what looked like a fire at 12:45. "I did not think about it at all," said a woman named Gianna, who refused to give her last name.

Julie Rivera said that she was visiting her boyfriend when the gunshots rang out.

"We heard three shots. I never heard shots, so I think it's fireworks. And then we hear the police, "said Rivera. "Our phones started to explode," Lock your doors, there was a shootout. "And then we see everywhere, everywhere, that there was a shooting, the stories came out."

Public records show that Formisano, 49, bought the house at Mirror Place almost 10 years ago.