SHARE

Gunman in Paramus firefight shot himself in suicide try, authorities confirm

ONLY ON CLIFFVIEW PILOT: Two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the incident told CLIFFVIEW PILOT Monday that the trajectory of the bullet through Michael Sean Carmody’s chin clearly indicates he turned his own gun on himself after he was wounded in a shootout with police.

Photo Credit: BCPO

MUGSHOT, RIGHT, COURTESY BCPO


YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: 3:25 p.m., Feb. 9: The man who shot Paramus Police Officer Rachel Morgan and then turned the gun on himself was declared dead at 3:02 p.m. today, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned. READ MORE….

“He’s still technically alive,” one said, “but what will turn out to be the fatal blow was self-inflicted.”

Meanwhile, Paramus Police Officer Rachel Morgan remained in critical condition, while doctors, loved ones and dozens of fellow officers hoped that she suffered no complications from surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Bergen County Prosecutor John L.Molinelli said he would request no bail for Carmody for shooting and seriously wounding Morgan and for shooting at backup Paramus Police Officer Ryan Hayo. But even the prosecutor conceded that charging Carmody, 23, with the attempted murder of two police officers, in addition to weapons possession and eluding, is a formality at this stage.

Hayo got to the scene quickly and exchanged fire with Carmody after Morgan was downed, hitting him an undetermined number of times.

Carmody, whose rap sheet includes theft and drug possession convictions, used a loaded 9mm semiautomatic handgun during the gunfight at the entrance ramp to the Garden State Parkway off Route 17 in Paramus shortly before 11 p.m., the prosecutor said.

He

remained under 24-hour watch Monday at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson by law enforcement officers from the BCPO and Bergen County Sheriff’s Department.

Morgan, 31, underwent surgery Monday morning. Carmody shot her twice in the abdomen.

Morgan had pulled Carmody’s car over in Paramus when he suddenly hit the accelerator and took off, with the officer in pursuit, the prosecutor said.

The officer was chasing Carmody south on Route 17 when he crashed his silver vehicle trying to get onto the southbound GSP entrance ramp. As she approached the car, he began firing, hitting the officer, Molinelli said.

The prosecutor said Morgan and Hayo fired back at Carmody, hitting him several times.

Molinelli wouldn’t confirm another law enforcement official’s report that Carmody clearly meant to take his own life. However, another high-ranking source independently verified the news.

A four-year veteran who joined the Paramus department two years ago, Morgan had worked with the New Jersey Institute of Technology police, Molinelli said.

For many, the news likely brought to mind 20-year Fair Lawn police veteran Mary Ann Collura, who was shot and killed by a man she was chasing after he crashed his car on a church lawn the night of April 17, 2003.

Her killer was shot dead himself, down in a quiet stretch of Florida, after he opened fire on police just three days later.

Carmody was a passenger in a car that crashed into a utility police on Tonnelle Avenue near Secaucus Road in Aug. 2008, killing his friend, 22-year-old Robert Castro of Little Ferry.

to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE