Three Months Later, Resolution Elusive In Brick Shooting

Three months after a Brick Township man’s 9-1-1 call led to a confrontation and a fatal shooting by police, an investigation into the events surrounding the shooting remains active, leaving families -- both of the man shot and the officers involved -- waiting for a resolution.

Julian Hoffman, 21, died after the Aug. 23 confrontation at the Cherrywood Circle home were he lived with his parents.

Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, said Tuesday there are no updates in the case, which the prosecutor’s office is handling because it is an officer-involved shooting.

The Brick Township officers involved -- Patrolmen Jay Nye and Ryan Osborn -- remain on administrative leave, awaiting the outcome of the investigation into the incident.

Nye and Osborn responded to the home following a 9-1-1 call from a man who said he was going to create a disturbance and hung up, Della Fave has said. On an audio recording of the call, Julian Hoffman can be heard telling an Ocean County dispatcher to send someone to the house, and that he was “raisin’ hell.”

Upon arrival, Nye and Osborn were confronted by a white male -- now identified as Hoffman -- approaching them carrying what appeared to be a black semi-automatic hand gun, Della Fave has said. Nye and Osborn ordered Hoffman to drop the weapon, and when he failed to do so, they fired, striking him several times, killing him, he has said.

A neighbor initially claimed to the Asbury Park Press that Julian Hoffman had surrendered, but later said she had arrived after the shooting and did not witness the incident.

Derek Hoffman, Julian Hoffman’s father, who has told news organizations that he was not home at the time of the incident, has said a surveillance camera mounted at the home’s front entranceway captured the incident. But it remains unclear, three months later, whether that video footage has been retrieved.

Della Fave has said previously that the prosecutor’s office is trying to expedite completion of the investigation.

“A full account of the evidence and circumstances surrounding the shooting will be released at the conclusion of the investigation,” Della Fave has said.