April 9, 2002
Dover, New Jersey
Edward Lutes, Jr. kills 5 of his neighbors and wounds his boss before killing himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Lutes, a former police officer, had reportedly had issues with his neighbors in the past, and neighborhood teenagers claimed he had requested they egg the neighbors’ houses. On April 9, 2002, Lutes shot his neighbors with an MP5 (a 9mm submachine gun), killing Dominick and Gail Galliano as well as their 25-year-old son Christopher. He next went to another neighbor’s house, again killing the couple living there, Gary and Tina Williams, though their 23-year-old son Robert managed to escape by jumping through a window. Lutes then visited his boss, Seaside Heights Police Chief James Costello, shooting him twice in the leg and once in the wrist before fleeing.
After the attacks, Lutes parked in a driveway seemingly chosen at random and shot himself. His body was discovered around 10 am on April 10. No clear motive was given for the murders.
