Grand Jury Takes No Action In Fatal SWAT Team Shooting in South Brunswick

A state grand jury took no action Tuesday, after finishing its deliberations in the case of the death of a South Brunswick man who was fatally shot during an armed standoff.

Around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2013, Andrew Murnieks, 28, was killed inside his home on Hannah Drive in South Brunswick by a member of the Middlesex County Emergency Response Team, authorities said.

The state grand jury concluded its deliberations late Tuesday and the panel “declined to indict the officer after hearing extensive testimony and evidence from the team’s investigation,’’ according to a news release from acting state Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

According to that news release:

Around 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2013, South Brunswick police were sent to the house to handle a report about an emotionally disturbed person.

When they arrived, Murnieks’ mother told the officers that her son was schizophrenic and was off his medication.

Police had been at that house before, and Murnieks had previously behaved violently.

When officers tried to talk to him at the front door, he initially walked away, then turned around and charged at them with a large blade held over his head.

Police retreated and called the Middlesex County Special Operations Response Team.

Murnieks closed the door, but police could see him running through the house and waving the blade.

He then opened the front door and a rear sliding door several times, yelling and waving the weapon.

He repeatedly said he was going to kill the officers.

When the Middlesex County Special Operations Response Team arrived, those officers took command. They were told Murnieks had access to a machete, a knife and a hammer.

A crisis negotiator made repeated efforts to resolve the situation peacefully, but when negotiations broke down and Murnieks appeared to be barricading the doorway, the SWAT team forced their way inside.

Murnieks attacked the first officer who entered the house, hitting him multiple times in the head and face with a heavy metal wrench. He also tried to grab the officer’s handgun.

That officer, a member of the Old Bridge Police Department, fired one round from his service weapon that hit Murnieks in the chest.

Murnieks was treated at the scene by paramedics and was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead at 11:35 p.m.

The officer was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries to his jaw and head.

The shooting was investigated by the Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team, made up of investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police Major Crime Unit.

“An officer may use deadly force in New Jersey when the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm,’’ the news release said.