A New Jersey woman was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on Wednesday as she waited for approval from the state to buy a handgun. In addition to obtaining a restraining order against her ex, Michael Eitel, and installing security cameras in her home, Carol Bowne had applied for a permit to purchase a handgun on April 21.

Police told the (New Jersey) Courier-Post that she had inquired about the application as recently as Monday. "We did not get the fingerprint information yet," Berlin Township Police Chief Leonard Check told the paper.

Unlike most states, New Jersey's restrictive gun laws require a permit to purchase a handgun. The permit process can take several months to complete. Bowne's murder has left her friends and neighbors in shock. "She did absolutely everything she was supposed to," her coworker Denise Lovallo told the paper. "Do they have enough now to get him?"

"She cared about everybody who walked through that door, and every client was her friend," Linda O'Hara, who owned the salon Bowne worked at the past 20 years, told the Courier-Post. "She was invited to every wedding, every baby shower, everything."

Eitel remains at large.