NJ Couple Narrowly Escaped Armed Man Racing To Their Home, Court Documents Say

SOUTH TOMS RIVER, NJ — As Brian J. Lanzim drove south from Maine to confront his former girlfriend, police officers went to the homes of her, her family and a friend of Lanzim, unsure of where the former Toms River resident was headed.

Knowing Lanzim was armed and had made threats to kill the woman's father, they urged the woman's parents to leave the South Toms River home and go somewhere safe.

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They nearly didn't get away in time, according to court documents.

The probable cause affidavit filed in the April 29 incident on Dover Road details the events leading up to when Lanzim, 37, was shot by a South Toms River police officer after ignoring the officer's commands.

Lanzim had driven eight hours from Maine after his longtime girlfriend told him in a noon conversation that she was breaking up with him and had sought a temporary restraining order, according to the affidavit.

He had a bulletproof vest, a Glock 17 with a 17-bullet magazine, a rifle, and 22 extended ammunition magazines, including 19 for the rifle, with more than 600 rounds of ammunition, according to the affidavit.

The woman told authorities that when she told Lanzim she was ending the relationship, during a Facetime call, she could see Lanzim packing up and could hear what she thought was the "click" of a gun, according to the affidavit.

She told Lanzim she was going to the police, and he begged her not to do that, according to the affidavit.

"No you are not, you wouldn't do that to me," she said he told her. "You promised you'd never do that to me."

She hung up the phone but Lanzim kept calling and messaging her, saying at one point, "If you stand between me and my kids, I'm going to do what I need to do."

Lanzim told her he wouldn't harm her but he would "have to take some actions."

He then threatened her father, saying, "If your father is there, I'm going to take him out." Lanzim also brought up a previous incident between himself and the woman's father and said that he would have run after her father and "rendered him ... pulseless in the driveway."

As things escalated and it became clear Lanzim was getting close to the area, the woman called her parents and urged them to leave the house, the affidavit said. The woman had taken the children somewhere safe, and she herself was at Toms River police headquarters, the affidavit said.

South Toms River police arrived at the parents' home and urged them to do the same, so the couple packed bags to go somewhere safe for the night, the affidavit said.

They had just gotten into their vehicle to leave when the police officer, Sgt. Muhammed Ali, motioned for them to stop and pointed to a vehicle coming toward their home. It was Lanzim's Totoya 4 Runner, the affidavit said.

Lanzim drove right past their vehicle onto the driveway and toward Ali, who had to run behind a fence out of the 4 Runner's path, the affidavit said.

As Lanzim got out of the 4 Runner and went toward the house, the couple pulled away in their vehicle, without Lanzim noticing, according to the affidavit.

They heard the gunshots as they sat in their vehicle a short distance away, according to the affidavit.

Lanzim had gone to the front door and tried to get into the home, and was carrying a Glock 17 with a 17-round magazine, one round of which was in the chamber of the gun ready to fire, the affidavit said.

Ali urged Lanzim to stop and to drop the weapon, but he refused, and Ali fired five times, striking Lanzim in the pelvis and hand, the affidavit said.

"I f-g lost her man," Lanzim could be heard screaming on the bodycam footage, according to the affidavit. "Tell her and the boys I love her," he said, and could be heard crying.

According to the affidavit, the woman's parents and the friend Lanzim was speaking to as he drove to South Toms River said the relationship between Lanzim and the woman had been rocky and gotten "progressively worse" over the last six years, calling Lanzim "scary, erratic, condescending, and mentally abusive."

The friend described Lanzim as an "unpredictable rollercoaster," the affidavit said.

When Lanzim decided in 2025 to go to Maine for a job with Brinks Security, the woman declined to uproot the children and her life to go with him, the affidavit said. Things between the two continued to deteriorate, the affidavit said, until April 29, when the woman told him she was ending the relationship for good.

Lanzim's public defender, Marissa Koerner, said in court on Friday that Lanzim's behavior was the result of a complete mental breakdown in response to the breakup, caused in part by mental health issues including bipolar disorder.

Assistant Prosecutor Mara Brater, at Lanzim's detention hearing, disagreed, saying his behavior indicated planning and intent, because he was wearing the bulletproof vest and because he was armed with the two firearms and the extensive amount of ammunition.

"He was ready for war," Brater said.

Lanzim has been charged with three counts of attempted murder, home invasion burglary, terroristic threats, two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful use of body armor, and 22 counts of possession of large capacity ammunition magazines. He remains in the Ocean County Jail, where he was ordered to stay following his detention hearing before Judge Pamela M. Snyder on May 8.

Read more: Man Shot By Police Drove From Maine, Threatened Ex After Breakup, Authorities, Report Say

Man Who Drove 8 Hours, Threatened Ex 'Was Ready For War,' Prosecutor Says