State Police Shooting Of 76-Year-Old N.J. Man Was a 'Mistake,' Attorney Says

Diana LaFalce's mother called her house at 11:47 p.m. on Friday, "hysterically crying." There were reportedly two dark figures standing at the door.

They were two state troopers responding to a 911 hangup, LaFalce told Fox29. Her 80-year-old mother woke up, terrified.

Her 76-year-old stepdad didn't immediately wake up; Gerald Sykes is deaf in one ear, she told Fox 29. He reacted on instinct, with his shotgun. They told him to drop it.

Then came the shots.

The Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team says it's now conducting an investigation into the State Police shooting of Sykes in Upper Deerfield Township that hospitalized the 76-year-old man.

Sykes was listed this week in critical condition at Cooper Medical Center days after a shooting that Rich Kaser, a friend and attorney, told nj.com was a "tragic mistake."

Sykes felt intruders were trying to get in and "he was yelling to his wife to call 911," Kaser told nj.com.

The State Police declined to comment on the case, referring comment to the New Jersey Office of Attorney General.

According to a preliminary investigation, police dispatchers received a 911 call from a cell phone shortly before 11:30 p.m. Friday, but the caller hung up before contact was made, according to a news release from the New Jersey Office of Attorney General.

An attempt was made to trace the cell phone so that officers could check on the well-being of the caller, and the call appeared to have been placed from the address where the shooting occurred, on the 300 block of Centerton Road in Upper Deerfield Township, according to the release.

That was later determined to be incorrect, but at the time, two state troopers from the State Police Bridgeton Station responded to the address to see if assistance was needed, according to the release.

Two uniformed troopers approached the single-family residence, which is in a rural area and is set well back from the road. The troopers approached the home and knocked in an attempt to communicate with the occupants, who were later determined to be Gerald Sykes, 76, and his wife, the release said.

The shooting occurred after the troopers approached a sliding glass door in the rear of the residence and knocked, shining flashlights into the home and announcing that they were responding to a 911 call.

At that time, there was an exchange of gunfire through the sliding glass door in which one of the troopers fired four rounds from his service 9 mm handgun, and Sykes fired a single round from a shotgun, according to the release.

The Sykes family claims, Kaser told nj.com, that police fired first from outside the home as Sykes stood in the living room.

Sykes, who was struck by multiple rounds, retreated into the house. The occupants and their daughter, whom they contacted by phone, called 911, and 911 dispatchers assisted Sykes so that he could receive medical treatment, according to the release.

One of the troopers suffered a graze wound from the shotgun, or from flying glass from the shotgun blast. Both troopers were treated at Inspira Medical Center in Vineland and later released.

The investigation is ongoing, according to the release.

Photo courtesy of Fox 29