Burlington County Corrections Officer Arrested In Fatal Shooting

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ — A Burlington County Corrections Officer has been charged with murder after a woman he shot at a doctor’s office in Mount Laurel died on Friday, authorities announced.

Bruce Gomola Jr., 51 of Burlington Township, fatally shot 41-year-old Stephanie Horton over a dispute concerning Gomola’s father at a Delaware Valley Urology Office, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Mount Laurel Police Chief Stephen Riedener announced Friday night.

Horton was a patient services representative at the office, located in the 15000 block of Midlantic Drive, and was trying to calm Gomola down when he shot her in the chest with a .40 caliber handgun, according to authorities. The bullet went through her back and struck a female patient in the knee, authorities said.

Gomola then left the building in a car, but returned shortly thereafter, authorities said. He surrendered to a Mount Laurel police officer on the scene.

Horton was pronounced dead at 4:18 p.m. at Cooper University Hospital in Camden. The other victim, a woman in her fifties, was treated at the same facility for serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

Gomola was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree aggravated assault and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He is being held in the Camden County Correctional Facility in Camden.

He will be scheduled for a first appearance in Superior Court, and the case will then be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.