Update: Hostage-Taker at Woodbridge Mall Shot by Police Officer

Early shoppers arriving at the Friday morning were greeted by a heavy presence of police cars patrolling the largely empty parking lot in the wake of Thursday night's fatal shooting of a hostage-taker.

The still-unnamed suspect was shot and killed by an off-duty officer early Thursday evening in an incident that sent shoppers and employees fleeing the store there in terror.

Mall employees interviewed Friday morning confirmed reports that the suspect had been confronted by police after an apparent shoplifting attempt in the Hollister Co. clothing store on the second level of the mall and then fled toward the nearby entrance, where he grabbed a woman and held her at knifepoint, in the electronics department there.

"Woodbridge police reported that after repeated warnings, the officer fired at the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene," Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Woodbridge Police Director Robert Hubner said in a joint statement issued last night.

Kaplan and Hubner said that the off-duty officer, whose identity was also being withheld, was "in uniform and working an extra-duty job at the mall, was dispatched to a store at the mall after receiving a report of a disturbance" and "observed an individual with a knife."

"The individual, upon observing the officer, fled, and a foot chase pursued. After a brief pursuit, the suspect grabbed a female shopper and threatened her with a knife, according to the preliminary report by Woodbridge police."

The authorities did not release the name of the man who was killed, nor the female hostage, who was unharmed.

The mall was open but quiet on Friday morning and several early shoppers appeared surprised to hear about the events of the previous night.

Justin Raceles, of Rahway, came out of Sears carrying a new mop Friday morning. "I had no idea it happened," he said of the shooting. "It's doesn't matter, I'll still shop here."

"Wow! I had no idea," said John Silva, of Cranford, after carrying bags from the mall to his car. "I've been shopping here for 40 years. It won't stop me." Then he turned around and went back into Sears.

Alvara Perez of Linden, also outside the mall Friday, expressed shock at news of the Thursday night incident. "I was just shopping here," he said. "I have a friend in Roselle who told me that two people were murdered on the street next to her last night. What's going on?"

The incident at in shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday drew more than a dozen and emergency vehicles to the mall, where police quickly sealed off the crime scene.

"Investigators from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office immediately responded to the scene of the 5:15 p.m. shooting, took control of the scene, and are actively investigating the shooting and the circumstances leading up to the shooting," Kaplan and Hubner said.

Frightened employees and shoppers fled the store, some gathering outside the mall and describing the scene inside. "This was a frightening day," James Smith told News12. "I thought that this would never happen at the mall."

Other shoppers, however, responded with surprising calm to the scene.

Bill Black and Gabrielle DiChiaro, both of Clark, were outside the mall shortly after it had been closed. Black said he was there despite hearing news reports of the shooting.

"It's funny, I was supposed to have come here earlier today, and I was going to Sears, too," he said. Asked whether incident would deter him from returning to the mall, he said, "Absolutely not!"

DiChiaro noticed a sign over the Sears entrance, advertising a 50 percent off mattress sale and pointed it out to Black who said, "Yeah, we need a mattress. I'm redoing my apartment. That's a good sale. We'll definitely be back." He added, "A little violence won't stop us from shopping here."

One woman who had been inside Sears was videotaped by a passerby as she told onlookers that the suspect had held a large knife to a woman's throat after being confronted by the police officer.

A report by nj.com quoted an unnamed f.y.e. store employee's description of the hostage-taking and the shooting, saying that the suspect was running from police when he grabbed the woman near the Sears entrance. According to the report, the employee said police told the man, "drop your weapon" and fired when he failed to do so.

A report by News12 quoted witnesses as saying that the incident began when the man was caught trying to shoplift a CD in in the Hollister Co. apparel store near Sears.

By 5:30, at least a dozen marked and unmarked Woodbridge police cars had swarmed around the Sears store, sealing off both entrances. The store was immediately closed, said Dave Albertson of Woodbridge Center's mall management.

Albertson said he and other Woodbridge Center managers were waiting outside the store while the police processed the crime scene.

Mall personnel were shooing away shoppers who approached the store to find it surrounded by police vehicles and officers.

"What's going on?" said one shopper, who was turned away from the store. "They told me the store will be closed for the rest of the night."

Woodbridge residents Tom Patten, 16, and 18-year-old Tyler Bruno were on their way to the mall when they observed police cars arriving at the scene.

"When we got here people said don't come in. Something bad happened. People were shaken up. They knew something bad had happened," Patten said.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is conducting an investigation into the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the prosecutor’s office at 732-745-3300

The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office also notified the state Office of the Attorney General, in accordance with state guidelines.