Crime & Safety
Middletown Police Officer Honored For Responding To Standoff
Middletown Officer Omar Akel was part of the police response to the Nov. 5 Long Branch standoff, where a man used a newborn as a shield:
MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A Middletown police officer was honored by the 200 Club of Monmouth County for his role in responding to a Long Branch hostage standoff last November, where police say a man suspected of murder set an apartment building on fire and then ran out of the burning building using his girlfriend's newborn baby as a shield as he fired a gun at police officers.
Middletown Police Officer Omar Akel was among the honorees, including Manalapan Patrolman Eric Voorand and Howell Police Officer Daniel Murphy Howell.
All three are members of MOCERT, the Monmouth County SWAT unit.
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Detective Stephen Borchard, with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Bureau, was also honored for responding to this incident. Borchard was struck by a bullet in the lower leg when the suspect fired at police officers.
This incident happened on a Friday afternoon, November 5, 2021: Police officers with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office tried to execute an arrest warrant to apprehend a man wanted for murder.
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The man, Mark D. Walker II, 34, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was inside his girlfriend's apartment on the 200 block of Chelsea Avenue in Long Branch.
Police said as they were entering the apartment, Walker shot one of the officers (Borchard) in the lower leg. He then barricaded himself inside and refused to come out, starting a stand-off with police that lasted for the next nine hours.
At 2 a.m. Walker set the apartment building on fire, said the NJ Attorney General.
Walker then ran out of the burning building, holding his girlfriend's two-week-old baby and a police shield as he fired multiple times at officers.
Officers returned fire, hitting him and killing him.
The newborn was safely recovered. The baby was not injured at all.
At the time, the Monmouth County Prosecutor praised the officers because the two-week-old baby was unharmed during the entire horrifying ordeal.
The entire Long Branch apartment building was destroyed by the fire. Many families were left homeless or could have been killed in the fire.
Patch reporting on the Nov. 5, 2021 Long Branch standoff: Man Killed In Standoff With Long Branch Police Identified
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