Friends Of Man Killed By Off-Duty Cop: Why Did Officer Bring His Gun Into A Bar?

Piscatway, NJ - The family and friends of Michael Gaffney, the unarmed Piscataway man shot and killed by an off-duty Newark police officer Thursday night, have one searing question: Why was the officer who killed him allowed to bring his service weapon into a bar?

On Thursday night, May 12, a fight broke out between Gaffney, 37, and the officer at Paddy’s Place bar on Rosemont Avenue in Union. The officer fired his weapon and Gaffney was pronounced dead outside the bar at 1 a.m. Friday, May 13. He leaves behind a 15-year-old daughter.

"If you're an off-duty police officer going out on a night on the town to do some drinking, then your gun has no place being there, and should not be allowed in bars," said Luisa Reeves D'Angelo, a longtime friend of Gaffney's. She said his family is heartbroken over his death.

"That gun should have been locked up or brought home prior to heading out for the evening," she added. "Alcohol and guns and a big ego don't mix, no matter who you are."

A sweeping 2004 federal law, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, allows off-duty police officers to carry their service weapons with them at all times and anywhere in the U.S. However, the law defines a "qualified law enforcement officer" as someone who is "not under the influence of alcohol or another intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or substance."

"No one should bring a gun into a bar, and now this poor teenage daughter is without a father," Marc Pasuca, who attended high school with Gaffney, told ABC 7. "I don't know, you try to change laws or something ... What are you going to do? Put a metal detector at every bar so a guy doesn't come in with gun?"

The Union County prosecutor's office is investigating the fatal shooting. Both they and the Newark police have refused to release the officer's name, citing his safety, said Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.

The officer has not been charged with any crime.

"Michael was unarmed. He was shot and he was killed needlessly and you can't take that back," said D'Angelo. "You can't change that. It shouldn't have happened."

Dad who loved his teenage daughter more than anything

Gaffney and the police officer may have known each other before the shooting. They exchanged words at the bar before it escalated to a fight. The officer ended up on the ground outside the bar; Gaffney attacked him and that's when the officer fired his weapon, unnamed police sources told NJ.com.

But D'Angelo said that's not who Michael was.

"What's being reported is false," she said. "He'd be the first to shake your hand after an argument or disagreement and always tried to walk away a better man ... He'd never do some of the things they are saying he did."

Gaffney, who only recently moved to Piscataway, was originally from Union and went to high school there. He had just recently bought a home there for his girlfriend of ten years, Johanna, and his daughter.

"He was a great man," Pasuca said. "Just his heart, and he loved his family so much. You could see in his posts, he was so ecstatic over his daughter getting honor role ... he had a heart of gold."

"They were the loves of his life," agreed D'Angelo.

"He was the kind of man that went around on holidays handing out lottery tickets or scratch-offs to strangers on the street in hopes that it somehow made a difference or made them smile — if only for that moment," she said.

Gaffney worked in home remodeling and construction.

"He was good at what he did. If you needed anything and he could help, he did, no questions asked," she said. "He was funny, witty and always ready with a comeback. He was a street kid sure, but he was not a thug or a punk. He was the kind of man that didn't go out looking for trouble, but he always stood his ground."

"We are all praying that during the investigation the truth comes to light and that justice is served for his mother, his girlfriend, his daughter and his brother," she said.

The officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Photo of Michael Gaffney used with permission.