A county prosecutor in New Jersey took control of a local police department this week after an investigation into a double homicide and apparent suicide of the suspect, a New Jersey state trooper, “raised serious concerns” about police “operations and effectiveness.”
Renée M. Robeson, the Hunterdon County prosecutor, said in a news release posted on Facebook that her office “will supervise the day-to-day operations” of the police force in Franklin Township, where the killings took place, until further notice.
The takeover happened after two local police officials including the chief, Timothy Snyder, were placed on administrative leave by the Franklin Township council, Ms. Robeson said in the news release. Reached by phone and email, a spokeswoman for the office declined to detail the prosecutor’s concerns about the police department. The New Jersey State Police did not respond to calls or an email seeking comment.
The prosecutor’s announcement came on Wednesday, five days after two people — Lauren Semanchik, 33, and Tyler Webb, 29 — were shot dead on Saturday in the Pittstown section of Franklin Township.
Ricardo Santos, a state trooper, has been named by investigators as a suspect in the shooting of Ms. Semanchik, a veterinarian who had previously dated Lieutenant Santos. Mr. Webb, a mechanic and volunteer firefighter from Forked River, N.J., was dating Ms. Semanchik.
Lieutenant Santos had been a supervisor on the protection detail for the New Jersey governor, Philip D. Murphy, but more recently had been assigned to drive a high-ranking member of the attorney general’s office.
Hours after the shooting, Lieutenant Santos was found dead in his car in a park in Piscataway, N.J., 30 miles from the scene of the killings, after an apparent self-inflicted gunshot. The county prosecutor said that a semiautomatic handgun was found inside his car, a white 2008 Mercedes S.U.V.
Lieutenant Santos left behind a note, according to three law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation. The note, found in the trooper’s home, expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the New Jersey State Police. The lieutenant said he felt bullied and harassed, the officials said. ,
Ms. Semanchik ended the relationship with Lieutenant Santos in September 2024, according to a statement by the prosecutor’s office. After the breakup, he repeatedly harassed and attempted to control Ms. Semanchik, who at some point installed a video surveillance system in her car, the prosecutor’s office said.
On Aug. 1, the device recorded Ms. Semanchik leaving her job at a veterinary clinic in Long Valley. A white 2008 Mercedes S.U.V. left at the same time and followed Ms. Semanchik closely as she drove 19 miles to Franklin Township. A few minutes after she arrived home, at 6:11 p.m., the video captured a person “surreptitiously walking in the wooded area” near her home. Half an hour later, a car belonging to Tyler Webb, Ms. Semanchik’s partner, was recorded arriving in the driveway.
The shooting began a few minutes after 7 p.m., the prosecutor’s office said. Several neighbors heard the gunshots. Daryl Hastings, who lives next door to Ms. Semanchik’s house, said she was standing outside when she heard approximately seven shots from a handgun, followed by “desperate screaming.” Then a final gunshot rang out. Ms. Hastings called the Franklin Township Police Department.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, Ms. Hastings said, a police vehicle drove up the street with its siren and emergency lights off. She waited in her front yard for the officer to arrive so she could describe what she had heard.
Instead, she said, she watched the officer drive away a few minutes later, without stopping to interview her.
“The police officer, if he had been doing his job, he would have been able to pinpoint the house” where the shooting happened, Ms. Hastings said. “It was not handled properly. It was very lax.”
Police returned to the scene 19 hours later, after receiving a 911 call about a wounded and unconscious woman discovered there, the prosecutor said. Investigators found that Ms. Semanchik and Mr. Webb had been shot with a semiautomatic firearm.
Christopher Maag is a reporter covering the New York City region for The Times.
Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years.
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