BLOOMFIELD — Few details have surfaced about how a retired Newark police lieutenant managed to shoot himself Wednesday morning inside the township Police Department after he was arrested in connection with an unspecified incident of domestic violence.

But friends, neighbors and former co-workers of Patrick Montella, 58, of Bloomfield said they were stunned at both his arrest and his suicide, which was announced by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office in a Wednesday news release.

"We're all shocked," James Stewart Jr., the president of Newark Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 12, said Wednesday afternoon. "Pat was a great guy. This took everyone's breath away. Nobody ever saw this coming. It's hard to believe it actually occurred."

Montella was taken to University Hospital in Newark, but he was pronounced dead at 1:16 a.m., according to the prosecutor’s statement. The Prosecutor's Office is investigating the suicide but has remained tight-lipped about specifics.

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Neither Samuel DeMaio, Bloomfield's public safety director, nor Lt. Anthony Sisco, the department's public information officer, could be reached for comment. The Newark Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Kathy Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, could not be reached for additional information.

Montella lived in a two-story brick house with green shutters on Este Place. State property tax records say he lived there with his wife, Corinne.

Calls to the home were not returned, and a woman who answered the door declined to comment.

But neighbors fondly remembered Montella.

"He loved his pets, his motorcycle and his wife," said Anthony Ciaramello, who has lived across the street on and off for 26 years. "I'm kind of shocked right now ... I can't believe I'm not going to hear his motorcycle this weekend."

Robert Lugo, another neighbor, said he saw authorities take Montella out of the home at about 9 p.m. Tuesday. It was the first time he'd seen a police car at the residence in Lugo's 15 years on the block.

"He was a very good neighbor," Lugo said, adding that Montella and his wife were constantly together. "They always walked their dog in the neighborhood."

Neither neighbor ever heard arguments coming from the Montellas' residence.

It is unclear how long Montella served with the Newark police, but state pension records say he retired in 2011.

He was suspended for five days from the force in 2000 after charges of neglect of duty, according to state Civil Service Commission records.

In 2009, the city cut Montella a $60,000 check to settle a lawsuit he brought against it after he claimed he was denied legal representation by the Newark Law Department in October 2002, according to city municipal records. The case stemmed from actions Montella took while on duty, the records show.

It was unclear Wednesday whether the two incidents are related.

Staff Writer Kaitlyn Kanzler contributed to this article.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com