Sussex prosecutor finds shooting of Byram man by cop justified

Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch released his conclusions Thursday that a Byram police officer was justified in June when he fatally shot a suicidal Cranberry Lake resident who yelled at officers to "take a shot" and then pointed a shotgun directly at one officer.

Ronald "Ronnie" Neal, 56, died of a single gunshot wound to the left side of his chest on June 3, 2015, about one hour and 40 minutes after police went to his home at 19 Laurel Trail in Byram Township after receiving a call that requested a welfare check be made on Neal. The 911 call related to a gunshot being heard from inside the Laurel Trail home.

Koch's six-page statement of the incident and conclusions said there normally is a presumption that a grand jury will review a police-involved fatal shooting. Under state Attorney General guidelines, Koch said, the prosecutor is not required to present the matter to a grand jury where the undisputed facts indicate that the use of force was justifiable under law.

"Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch, after a careful and thorough review of all the evidence surrounding this shooting, in accordance with Section 6(b) of the Supplemental Directive (of the Attorney General), has determined that the undisputed facts in this case establish that this matter was a justified use of force and that the matter should not be presented to a grand jury," his statement said, noting that the findings were reviewed and agreed with by the state Division of Criminal Justice.

Initially on June 3, three Byram officers arrived on the scene, spoke to a neighbor and took up cover positions on the property.  A person identified in the statement as Byram Officer 3 attempted to make contact with anyone in the house and Ronald Neal eventually responded, saying he was alone but that he had firearms, the statement said.

The statement said that Neal, after about 10 minutes of yelling back and forth with Byram Officer 3, exited the house with a handgun and a shotgun. Other officers from Byram and Andover townships arrived.  Shortly after 4 p.m., Byram Officer 4, a trained crisis negotiator, arrived and took over communications with Neal from Byram Officer 3.

As the crisis negotiator kept up a dialogue with Neal, several officers heard Neal repeatedly yell for the officers on scene to take a shot at him. Neal's shotgun was leaning by the entrance doorway to the house and in close proximity to him. Neal, after a bit of time, retrieved his handgun that he had previously put on the front porch and threw it onto the lawn between himself and the officers.  Neal then walked back to the doorway entrance and retrieved his shotgun and continued to hold it despite being requested several times by Byram Officer 4 to put it down.

The statement continued: "Mr. Neal yelled to the officers not to shoot him in the arm because if they did he would only reach for the gun again. Mr. Neal then raised the shotgun, with the barrel pointed straight up into the air. While still on the porch, Mr. Neal then began to lower the shotgun so it was pointed directly at Byram Officer 1.  It was only upon that action that Byram Officer 3 fired a single shot at Mr. Neal to protect the life of Byram Officer 1.  Byram Officer 3's single shot hit Mr. Neal in the left side of his torso, causing him to fall backwards and to the floor of the porch."

The statement did not identify by name any of the officers at the scene. Officers immediately began administering first aid on Neal until emergency aid workers were able to take over.  Neal was transported to Hackettstown Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 5:21 p.m.

The investigation also revealed that Neal had several conversations earlier in the day on June 3 with an unidentified person, who believed Neal was intoxicated during their talks.  Neal told the person, who was unable to comply with Neal's request that he come over: "But you said if I ever needed you, you would come over." Neal also told this person that he wanted to see his mom and dad, who both were deceased, Koch's statement said.

Neighbors told authorities they believed that police fully tried to calm Neal down and were professional throughout the situation.  A friend of Neal's also told authorities after the shooting that Neal a year or two earlier confided that he wanted to come out of his house with an unloaded gun and "get someone else to remove him from the planet," Koch's statement said.

An obituary for Ronald Neal stated that he was born in Boonton and worked 21 years for a lawn company based in Randolph.  Married with several adult children, he was an associate member of Newton Fire Department Chemical Co. No. 2, his obituary said.

   Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.