Retired Cop Charged With Attempted Murder In Toms River Shooting

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A retired Fort Lee police officer has been charged with attempted murder after he shot a Toms River man in the chest last week, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said Monday.

Richard Michael Gato, 70, of Margaret Court in Toms River, was arrested Friday in the shooting that happened Thursday night in the Silverton section, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County prosecutor's office.

Robert Oleynick, 34, of Toms River, is in stable condition at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, Della Fave said.

Della Fave said the incident happened Thursday outside Gato's home on Margaret Court in the Anchorage section. Oleynick was at the address looking for a friend when he encountered Gato outside Gato's home, Della Fave said.

The encounter resulted in a physical altercation between the two over Oleynick being at Gato's home uninvited that led Gato shooting Oleynick in the left side of his chest, Della Fave said. Oleynick then left Gato's home and went to an apartment at Mariners Cove, where police were called at about 10 p.m., Della Fave said. Toms River police responded and Oleynick was airlifted to Jersey Shore, he said.

Della Fave said the investigation by the Toms River Police Department and the Major Crime Unit of the prosecutor's office traced the shooting to Gato's home. Video recovered by a search warrant captured the entire confrontation and shooting, Della Fave said, leading to the charges.

Gato, who currently works as a real estate agent, is a U.S. Army veteran and was a detective with the Fort Lee Police Department when he retired. He and his family have lived in Toms River since 1995, according to a profile of his wife, Susan Payne Gato, who served as a councilwoman and also as mayor of Fort Lee before they moved to Toms River. The profile notes Richard Gato, though retired, was a first responder at the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Richard Gato is charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending his first appearance, Della Fave said.

Richard Michael Gato, photo provided by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office via the Ocean County Corrections Department