School crossing guard shoots wife, kills self in Edgewater Park

EDGEWATER PARK - A school crossing guard shot his wife before killing himself early Wednesday morning, Burlington County law enforcement officials said.

County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Edgewater Park Police Chief Gene Di Filippo said officers were called to the 200 block of Roosevelt Avenue just after 1 a.m. and found Michelle Moses-Martin, 46, outside with multiple gunshot wounds to her chest.

They said her husband, 57-year-old Gregory Martin, emerged briefly onto the front porch of the home before going back inside.

About two hours later, members of the New Jersey State Police Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists Unit entered the house and found Martin had committed suicide with a firearm, officials said.

Moses-Martin survived the shooting and was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she was listed in critical but stable condition after surgery, officials said.

Coffina said Martin was a retired New Jersey Department of Corrections employee and currently was employed by the township a school crossing guard for the Mildred Magowan Elementary School a few blocks from his home.

The prosecutor said the motive for the shooting is under investigation and that some early news reports of a standoff at the house were inaccurate.

Joel Bewley, the prosecutor's office spokesman, said Moses-Martin ran to the home next door after she was shot and knocked on the door for help. That neighbor called for help.

Another neighbor, Jennifer James, who lives across the street said her husband woke her up after hearing gunshots around 1 a.m.

James said she was not well acquainted with the Martins, who had moved to the neighborhood two years ago, only exchanging pleasantries when they saw one another on the dead-end street abutting a park.

"We don't know what happened with the man. It never seemed to us anything was wrong," James said.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mrs. Martin and we would be on the lookout for any student concerns (about the crossing guard) and offer any needed support,”

said township school superintendent Roy Rakszawski.

Wednesday's incident is the second shooting in the township this year. On Jan. 12 David Dibraccio, 26, formerly of Vineland, was shot to death at Edgewater Manor Apartments following a fight with two other men.

“Although these incidents are disturbing and even scary to realize that they happen so close to our homes, I want to remind everyone not to be quick to judge our township's overall public safety based on these events,” Di Filippo said.

The shootings were not random acts of violence, the chief, and both involved people who knew each other.

“No town can prevent or predict acts of violence committed by one person toward another that they have some type of friendship or other relationship, whether it be acts of domestic violence as in the case of the incident that occurred last night, or acts of violence involving subjects who are familiar with each other and become involved in heated arguments."

The chief also praised first responders and officers for quickly treating and stabilizing the victim before emergency medical services took her to the hospital.

Carol Comegno: @carolcomegno; 856-486-2473; ccomegno@gannettnj.com

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