Explosion Rocks Ocean Township Neighborhood, Suspect Arrested Without Incident, No Shots Fired Prosecutors Office Says

01-07-24, Ocean Township Police and Monmouth County SWAT team at an incident at Fairmont and Allan avenues.

Notice From Prosecutors Office

At one point during the night, a photo of Dougherty was snapped before he gave himself up to police.

Regarding your inquiry this morning, please see the below summary of events. Also, please be advised that while we cannot discuss specific operational measures taken, there was no gunfire throughout the duration of the event.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 7, members of the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT) and Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) responded to a residence on the 1500 block of Allen Avenue in the Wanamassa section of Ocean Township on a report of an individual threatening members of police.

The individual, identified as 35-year-old Conor M. Dougherty of Ocean Township, was taken into custody without incident shortly before midnight and transported to a local hospital for evaluation.  

Dougherty has been charged with third-degree Making Terroristic Threats and on an active warrant out of Neptune City.

When asked if they could explain the sounds that resembled gunshots the Prosecutors Office replied, “Apologies – as noted, cannot discuss specific operational measures in this case.”

By Patty Booth O’Neill

There were drones and a robot used in the situation.

A notice had gone out over social media on Sunday evening  by Ocean Township Police asking people to avoid the area of Fairmont and Allen avenues due to an investigation underway. Fairmont & Allen are located behind Sunset Ave. where the Post Office is, close to Hwy 35.

Multiple Police Depts. from surrounding towns were called in at around 7PM to help with the situation and to keep the area blocked off from traffic. The parking lot at Sunset Gardens was filled with First Responder vehicles on call just in case. The Monmouth County SWAT Team and the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office had large, black trucks pulled in front of the apartment building where there were reports of a person (or persons) blockaded inside who would not come out at the request of police.

Suspect Conor M. Dougherty of Ocean Township, being escorted into a police vehicle after hours of a stand off. Dougherty was charged with Terroristic Threats and will be committed to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution pending an initial court appearance.
Photo taken from Facebook

It’s not known why police were called there in the first place. Some were saying it was a hostage situation, some said he was being served a warrant and barricaded himself inside the apt.

It took a couple of hours before some kind of action was taken.

“At around 9:45 There was a loud explosion and our house shook,” said a woman who lives in the neighborhood. My one daughter was hysterical crying because she didn’t know what was going on – none of us did!” she said. ” It was very frightening because after the explosion you could hear people yelling.”

Watch video here

A woman in the 7-11 on Sunset Ave. said the same thing happened at their home around the corner – they heard an explosion and their house shook. “It was scary. My husband and I had no idea what was going on.”

After the explosion, identified as a flash bang, everything was quiet except throughout the night police could be heard trying to communicate with the suspect by a loudspeaker, but to no avail.

There were drones being used in the air and a robot on the ground. Both had their own handler.

Someone said the apartment’s front door had been blown off.

At about 11pm there were shots fired from the apt. About 8 shots in groups of three. Pop pop pop – pop  pop – pop pop pop. Over in a couple of seconds.

Another stretch of quiet time, disrupted only by police still trying to make contact… then two huge bangs and then quiet again and back to the constant chatter of police over the loud speaker.

Spotlights were turned on and you could then see smoke from the flash bangs drifting over the roof of the building.

Abruptly, at around 11:30 police began moving with a purpose. Had no idea how many there really were until they emerged from their designated spots and gathered in the middle of the street heading towards the apartment.

He gave up or they went in but it was all over. The person was thrown in the back of a police cruiser and taken away. Perimeter police vehicles went home, the streets were open to public traffic

We intend to have more information soon.