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Widow Judy Breton, 33, says she wanted her husband Dante Cespedes removed from the apartment, not killed. She is standing in the living room in Belleville where the blood soaked carpet shows where he fell.

(Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger)

BELLEVILLE — It was over in a matter of seconds.

Dante Cespedes was sitting in the living room of his Belleville apartment, leaving a voicemail for his wife after an alcohol-fueled argument early Tuesday morning. Four police officers entered the room to arrest him for assaulting her, prosecutors and relatives said Wednesday.

Knife in hand, Cespedes lunged forward, police said.

Three of the officers quickly took aim, squeezing off 30 rounds in a flash, striking the 40-year-old chef two dozen times and killing him almost immediately, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray disclosed Wednesday.

As Murray provided new details about the fatal police shooting, she cautioned against passing judgment on the officers based on the number of rounds fired.

"We’re going to look at this, and the overall totality of what took place. Total number of shots is one thing we look at, also the time over which the shots were fired, and the directionality," she said. "The number of shots alone does not lead to any conclusions."

At the apartment Wednesday, 33-year-old Judy Breton stared blankly at the bullet holes in her couch, trying to understand why her husband’s blood was still pooled in the carpet.

"I told them just to take him out of the house," she said. "Not to kill him."

Belleville Police referred all questions to the prosecutor’s office. Murray would not say if the officers found an open door to the apartment or forced their way in, but said all three fired simultaneously when Cespedes lunged at them with "at least two knives."

The 40-year-old was shot 24 times in the torso and head, according to Murray. Belleville officers carry Glock Model 21s, a semi-automatic .45 caliber handgun that holds 14 rounds. She would not identify the officers, describing them only as "veteran cops."

Eugene O'Donnell, a former New York City police officer and Brooklyn prosecutor, said when multiple officers take aim at an armed suspect something called "contagious shooting" can occur, likening the situation to a chain reaction started by one officer's decision to shoot.



A LIFE-OR-DEATH PROPOSITION

Still, he said, the panic caused by a confrontation with an armed suspect can lead to a high rate of fire.

"It usually should be a life-or-death proposition," he said. "In that scenario, you’d expect to have more shots fired."

Breton, who married Cespedes five years ago, said the couple became embroiled in an argument around 11 p.m. on Monday night. Cespedes had been drinking beer, and attempted to strike Breton.

She took her four children to the Belleville Police Headquarters and filed a complaint. But Breton said she can’t understand why the officers had to use lethal force, wondering aloud why they didn’t employ a stun gun or chemical spray.

"That’s not an excuse to kill him," she said of the knife. "He was drunk. He wasn’t thinking. Why not use another kind of weapon?"

Dante Cespedes, 40, was shot 24 times by Belleville Police when they tried to arrest him Tuesday morning. Prosecutors say Cespedes lunged at three officers with a knife and had attacked his wife hours earlier.

Belleville Police do not use stun guns, prosecutors said. The Attorney General’s office loosened state guidelines in 2011 to help police avoid lethal confrontations, but most departments say the rules are too complex and the devices too expensive. The current state-approved models cost $2,000 each.

TASERS: NOT A CURE-ALL

O’Donnell said stun guns could be helpful in a situation like Tuesday’s shooting, but they aren’t a cure-all.

"Sometimes situations deteriorate so rapidly the Taser cannot be of use, but the purpose of equipping people with Tasers is to give options in an escalating confrontation," he said.

Cespedes had several prior run-ins with local police, according to Murray. Court records show he was charged with assaulting a police officer in Belleville in September of 2012, but pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and avoided jail time.

Breton said her husband was not abusive, recalling a time he purchased her a second wedding ring because she lost the original.

The couple met in New York, where Cespedes worked as a chef at The Algonquian Hotel, and had two children, ages 2 and 3. Breton also had an 11 and 14-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

"The kids are little," she said. "Now they don’t have a father no more."

Standing in her kitchen, Breton unfurled a set of steel culinary knives she recently purchased for her husband. One blade was noticeably absent. She feared it was the knife Cespedes was clutching when the officers opened fire.

"It’s terrible," Breton said. "I have so many questions and no answers."

Star-Ledger staff Writer Julia Terruso contributed to this report.

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