Toms River Officer Fired Fatal Shot As Man Held Partner By Neck, Reached For His Gun: Prosecutor

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Two Toms River police officers were about to leave Christopher Apostolos's apartment following a well-being check on March 14 when they noticed some things were out of place.

The television had been left on. There was a pot of beans in the kitchen that was still warm. And Apolstolos's car was parked in the parking lot in front of the apartment.

They began to search the apartment again. What ensued was a dramatic struggle that led to the fatal shooting of Apostolos, 56, in his apartment in the Silver Ridge Apartment complex, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release Thursday.

The Toms River police officers' use of deadly force in the case was legally justified, the announcement said.

"The Office of the Attorney General agrees with the findings of Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato that the undisputed facts of this case establish that the use of deadly force by the police officers was legally justified," the prosecutor's office said. "The Attorney General also agrees that there are no material facts in dispute with regard to the officers’ use of force. As a result, presentation to a Grand Jury is not warranted."

The fatal shooting happened as Toms River police went to the apartment at 190 Edgewood Dr. for the fifth straight day to conduct a well-being check on Apostolos, the prosecutor's office said.

The prosecutor's office provided the following narrative of the events:

Toms River Police Officers Mark DeGrandis and Francis Bopp went to the apartment about 12:30 p.m. on March 14 and, after knocking several times and identifying themselves as police officers, entered the apartment using a key they had obtained from the apartment manager.

DeGrandis and Bopp searched the apartment but did not find Apostolos. As they were about to leave, though, they decided to search again because they had discovered the beans, the TV on and Apostolos's car.

They checked the balcony, but its door had been locked from the inside, which meant Apostolos could not have left the apartment by that door. DeGrandis and Bopp kept searching, looking for an attic access point or any other possible hiding spots.

DeGrandis then walked into the apartment's bathroom. At the far end, he noticed, there was a closet they had missed in their initial search because the bathroom door had been open and obstructed their view of the closet door. DeGrandis told Bopp about the closet, then put his left hand on the doorknob and attempted to open the door.

As DeGrandis began to turn the knob, the closet door flew open and a screaming man — later identified as Apostolos — burst out, grabbing DeGrandis by the neck with one hand and reaching for DeGrandis's duty weapon with the other. DeGrandis fired his gun three times during the struggle, striking Apostolos twice.

DeGrandis explained that he was afraid Apostolos was going to overpower him, take control of his gun and kill him, Bopp or both of them.

Bopp was in the hallway next to the bathroom when DeGrandis told him about the closet in the bathroom. Bopp was still in the hallway area when he heard the scream from the closet and the bathroom door slammed shut, hitting Bopp's foot.

Bopp then heard a gunshot, but was unable to push the door open fully as it was wedged against the linen closet door. With an obstructed view through the partly open door, Bopp was able to see only DeGrandis backed up against the bathtub with Apostolos’s hand on his gun and another around his neck.

Bopp saw DeGrandis fire another round that hit Apostolos’s hand between the thumb and forefinger. Bopp, however, was unable to safely fire his weapon as DeGrandis and Apostolos were struggling in a tight area.

After a moment, Bopp saw a clear shot and fired once, striking Apostolos and ending the struggle.

Bopp said he fired because he believed Apostolos was going to gain control of DeGrandis's gun and kill either or both of them.

Apostolos was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:06 p.m. on March 14 by Dr. Peter Malamet from Newark Beth Israel Hospital, the prosecutor's office said. The March 16 autopsy said he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The prosecutor's office said the assistant property manager at the Silver Ridge Apartment Complex told detectives that Apostolos had gone to the property management office in the days before his death asking whether his brother would be able to go into his apartment to retrieve his belongings if he died.

After the assistant property manager told Apostolos that wouldn't be allowed, Apostolos returned with a notarized letter, giving his brother permission to enter his apartment and retrieve his belongings if Apostolos died suddenly, the prosecutor's office said. The property manager told detectives it seemed odd that he was leaving this letter and that she felt it was like a suicide note, the prosecutor's office said.

"The Office of the Attorney General and Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato determined that the undisputed facts establish that the Toms River Township police officers used the appropriate force necessary to protect their lives and, furthermore, that the officers were legally justified in that use of force," the prosecutor's office said. "This investigation was conducted consistent with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Directive 2006-5 (July 28, 2015) regarding the uniform statewide procedures and best practices for conducting police officer use-of-force investigations."

Silver Ridge Apartments, photo via Google Maps