Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan can be seen through the shattered windows of a Pathmark supermarket on Route 9 north, Old Bridge, on Aug. 31, shortly after a store employee gunned down two coworkers. JEFF GRANIT staff OLD BRIDGE — In the wake of an Aug. 31 shooting that took the lives of two Pathmark employees and ended in the apparent suicide of a third employee, area residents are expressing a mix of grief and shock.
Fatal shootings have occurred in public places in other parts of the country, but this time tragedy struck right at home in a suburban central New Jersey community.
“I feel very bad for the victims’ families,” Old Bridge resident Sandra Reti said. “It’s so close. It can just happen anywhere.”
Authorities said the gunman was Terence S. Tyler, 23, who had worked at Pathmark, Route 9 north, Old Bridge, for less than two weeks before killing two of his coworkers.
Just before 4 a.m. Aug. 31, Tyler reportedly opened fire on other store employees, killing Cristina LoBrutto, 18, and Bryan Breen, 24, both residents of Old Bridge.
The motive for the attack remained under investigation as of the afternoon of Aug. 31.
Tyler, raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., was a former Marine who was discharged in 2010. He moved to Old Bridge in June.
Erica Steeber, 18, of Milltown, is a friend of LoBrutto. Steeber told Greater Media Newspapers that she learned her friend had been killed in the Pathmark supermarket when she saw the young woman’s picture on TV on the morning of Aug. 31.
Numerous media outlets identified the victims and their killer several hours before authorities released the names later in the afternoon.
Steeber said she and LoBrutto had the same circle of friends. She said LoBrutto was planning to attend Brookdale Community College in Lincroft and had been working at the Old Bridge supermarket store for a year.
Steeber said LoBrutto “was always fun and smiling, and adventurous, she knew how to cheer people up, she was very comforting and she was always there for her friends.”
Breen had worked there for nearly seven years, according to the union that represents store employees.
A candlelight vigil was scheduled for the evening of Aug. 31 at Old Bridge High School so that community members could pay their respects to the victims.
Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry, who planned to attend the vigil, said it would initiate the healing process for the community.
“We have to start the healing process. We are a big town, but yet we are a small town at the same time,” Henry said. “We are going to have to come together and show our support for the two victims. They are homegrown, they are Old Bridge High School graduates and we suffered a tragic loss today.
“Obviously, the community is devastated. This was a senseless act of violence, a selfish act by an individual,” he said. “We are upset, and our thoughts and our prayers are with the families of the victims.”
Henry expressed gratitude to Gov. Chris Christie and to the state and federal representatives who have reached out in support of Old Bridge.
“We are still in the beginning phases of this. It hasn’t set in yet for a lot people. They are probably looking at their TV [and thinking] it’s a movie they are watching, but this really did happen,” the mayor said. “They were two young lives taken. They were doing absolutely nothing wrong except to go to work to try and make some extra money for college. It’s just tragic.”
Some area residents said the Old Bridge shooting, in addition to recent public shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Oak Creek, Wisc., raises concerns about the safety of ordinary people going out in public in their normal course of business.
Reti, who is a resident of the London Terrace apartment complex near the Pathmark shopping center, said she was not likely to return to the supermarket anytime soon.
“I don’t think I’m going to be going there for a long time,” Reti said. “I’m just nervous about everything going on today. You’re not safe anywhere. You just never know.”
Old Bridge resident Charles Keir said the incident hit close to home not just because he is a township resident, but because he has worked overnight shifts at a nearby supermarket.
“It’s very shocking. It’s very disturbing,” Keir said. “I used to work overnights. That could have been me.”
Working an overnight shift in a store that is not open 24 hours would provide some employees with a sense of security, he said.
“When (the store) is closed, you feel more secure,” he said. “[But] no matter where you go in life now you’re in jeopardy.”
Ted Sliwinski of East Brunswick was drawn to the scene on Aug. 31, hoping to learn the identity of the victims since he personally knew several Pathmark employees.
“It’s terrible. I just wanted to come here to see if I knew any of the people who passed away,” Sliwinski said. Referring to other recent shootings nationwide, he said, “It’s sad because you see it coming into your backyard.”
He said the shooting makes him concerned about safety and more in favor of stricter gun laws.
However, Janet Waszazak, 57, who is also a resident of the London Terrace apartment complex, said that while she was saddened by the shooting, she will not live in fear.
“I know most of the workers in the morning and the night workers,” Waszazak said. “It hits home for me. [But] it doesn’t matter where you are. If it happens, it happens. When you’re going to die, you’re going to die, and you don’t know when you’re going to die.” Correspondent Nathan Rosman contributed to this story.