JEFFERSON, NJ — A Newark police officer accused of killing his estranged wife and seriously injuring her boyfriend told investigators that he “blacked out” upon realizing the two were inside a bedroom together in the estranged couple’s Jefferson Township home.
Lt. John Formisano, a 24-year veteran of the Newark Police Department, said he did remember shooting Christine Formisano, 37, who was using the name Christie Solaro at the time of her death. He also remembered shooting her boyfriend, identified as 40-year-old T.S. in documents, but that he was in a “blacked out state,” according to the affidavit of probable cause, which Patch obtained.
Formisano told investigators that he’d gone over to the couple’s 1 Mirror Place home in the Oak Ridge section of Jefferson Township late Sunday night to drop off a pair of glasses for one of the couples’ children. When he began to suspect that Solaro had a man in the bedroom he began to “black out,” Formisano told police, but that he remembered firing his gun multiple times.
T.S. told police that Formisano and Solaro spoke on the phone shortly before her death; just after the call, Solaro said she saw a flashlight outside the home and warned T.S. that Formisano was on the property.
Solaro and T.S. were in the bedroom when Solaro spotted Formisano outside the home. After noticing the flashlight, Solaro left the bedroom and locked it behind her, the affidavit says.
It was then that Solaro called out, “he’s got a gun,” and, “call 911,” T.S. told investigators. Just after her cries, shots rang out.
After shooting Solaro, Formisano broke down the bedroom door, T.S. told police, and shot T.S. several times.
Solaro tried to flee the home, running to 3 and 5 Mirror Place to try and get inside a neighbor’s house, the affidavit says. A witness told police that she saw Formisano shoot Solaro outside of 5 Mirror Place, where her body was eventually found by police. She was pronounced dead at the scene, with gunshot wounds to her torso, arm, leg, hand, and head, police said.
T.S. was conscious but bleeding when the Morris County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team found him. He was taken to the Morristown Medical Center trauma unit with injuries to his thigh, hand, arms, and abdomen. His current status is unclear.
Formisano was arrested in a parking lot in Livingston around 2 a.m. Monday morning. Police say they found a handgun inside his car trunk, but that Formisano threw his cell phone away.
Formisano agreed to speak to investigators, and police say he exhibited suicidal behavior or threatened self-injury at that point. According to NJ.com, Formisano is being held at a psychiatric unit at St. Clare’s Hospital in Boonton.
T.S. told investigators he was aware that the Formisanos were in the process of a divorce when he began dating Christine Formisano. John Formisano purchased the 1 Mirror Way home by himself in 2007 according to property records; Christie Solaro is listed on mortgage documents from 2012.
The couples’ two children, who are both under 10 years old and were not named in the affidavit, were home at the time of the shooting, the complaint alleges, and were “located nearby” at the time of the slaying. Formisano faces two counts of second degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The children were taken from the home by Morris County Sheriff’s officers. They are currently staying with an uncle, a family friend wrote on a fundraiser set up for them.
“Last night we were able to get access to the house and stuffed as many black bags with the children’s clothing, toys, medication and kitchen utensils we could. They are with family and are surrounded by the most important thing they can have, love,” Mike Velez, a partner on the force with Formisano, wrote on a GoFundMe. Any funds raised will be put into a bank account dedicated to offsetting the costs of raising the children.
Members of the law enforcement community also extended their thoughts for the children.
“I pray for Christine Formisano who tragically lost her life during this incident as well as the recovery of the survivors, and healing for their families who have suffered a terrible loss,” Sheriff James Gannon said in a statement. “I am very proud of the work of all the Morris County law enforcement agencies in their response, rescue, treatment of the survivors, and ultimate criminal investigation of this very tragic event.”
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Formisano has been suspended from the Newark Police Department without pay. In addition to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, he has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
“The Newark Public Safety Department is deeply saddened by the family tragedy involving Newark Police Lt. John Formisano, Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said in a statement. “Our foremost concern, of course, is for the couple’s two children who have lost their mother and for the family of the victim.
“Lt. Formisano’s colleagues in our police division were shocked by the news of the shooting and we recognize it this is a tragedy beyond comprehension for all involved.”
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 or TTY 1−800−787−3224.