SAYREVILLE, N.J. — Neighbors of the New Jersey councilman who was shot in his car in the parking lot of a suburban apartment complex are shedding light on the events following the apparent execution.
Sayreville, New Jersey City Councilwoman Eunice Dumfour, a 30-year-old mother, was shot and killed shortly after 7:20 p.m. Wednesday in her car in the parking lot of the Camelot apartment complex in La Mer, where she lived, police said.
Neighbors in the tree-lined complex described to Fox News Digital how they heard several gunshots before Dumfur’s white vehicle rolled several feet into multiple vehicles parked in the parking lot.
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Police cars are seen near where Sayreville, New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dumfour was shot outside her home on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
(FEMALE)
Isaac Oppong, 59, learned late Wednesday from his wife that his vehicle, a silver Mercedes sedan, had been hit.
“There was a lady downstairs who knocked on the door and said, ‘Your car has been hit. They just killed somebody … the guy hit your car,” he recalled to Fox News Digital. Oppong, who has lived in the compound for nearly two decades, said he was at work at the time but returned home around midnight to see the police presence outside his building.
Oppong said his wife was watching TV at the time of the shooting and didn’t hear anything until a neighbor knocked on their door.
Sayreville, New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dumfour was shot outside her home on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. Image shows police cars stationed at an apartment complex.
(Stephanie Pagones/Fox News Digital)
“I’ve been thinking about it all night,” he said. He later added: “Nothing like that happens… If it can happen here. It can happen anywhere. Because I’ve never even heard a gun here… I’ve been here probably 17 years. I didn’t hear any noise.”
Another man, who was at the apartment complex visiting the family at the time, said he heard “six or nine shots.”
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“When I heard the shooting, I told my cousin to come down,” said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I saw the car … roll over and hit those cars.”
The image shows one of the vehicles damaged after New Jersey Council member Eunice Dumfour was shot and killed on February 1, 2023.
He said several police cars arrived within minutes and tried to break the car’s window. It was obviously locked.
The man also described how Dumfur was the only person in the car at the time. In the moments after her car crashed into the other vehicles, he could hear the sound of Dumfur’s cell phone receiving several text messages in rapid succession.
“I guess the phone was connected,” he said. “So you keep hearing the phone notification going off, life much. Not like someone just texting randomly. It was more like a lot of texting. Like ring, ring, ring, but you heard it over the car speaker.’
He provided Fox News Digital with the crime scene tracks showing the white SUV that crashed into the other vehicles.
A photo obtained by Fox News Digital shows the aftermath of the shooting involving New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dumfour, February 1, 2023.
(Courtesy of Fox News Digital)
Travis Winfrey, 42, owns a nearby home in a neighboring complex. He said his girlfriend was home at the time when “all of a sudden she just heard ‘poop, poop, poop, poop, poop’.”
“She said it sounded like firecrackers,” Winfrey said. “I got home at midnight and they were still there, with caution tape and everything.”
He said the community is usually “very quiet.”
“Everybody knows everybody. People talk. Everybody’s friendly,” he said. “It’s very, very peaceful.”
Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dumfour has reportedly been killed after a shooting outside her apartment.
(Sayreville Borough Council)
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said Dumfur suffered “multiple gunshot wounds” and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have not released any new information about the case, and it was unclear at press time if officials would hold a news conference Thursday.
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Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick described Dwumfour as “a dedicated member of our city council who was truly committed to serving all of our residents.”
Glenn Skarzynski, business administrator for the Borough of Sayerville, told Fox News’ Nate Foy that Dumfur “works very closely with our police, fire and EMS as a liaison with the council.”
He said Dumfur has a young daughter and is very involved with his church.
“She was an amazing person, very gentle in her ways, very persuasive. And a woman who set herself very high in terms of values,” he said. “I cannot think of anything she could have done or said to make her the target of such a despicable act.
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“As mayor, I worked very closely with Eunice when she was on the City Council. In addition to her dedication to our community, I can tell you that she was a woman of deep faith and worked hard to integrate her strong Christian beliefs into her daily life as a person and community leader,” said Kilpatrick. “On a personal level, I cannot adequately expressed his sense of grief at the loss of a friend.’
Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement that he was “stunned.”
“Her career in public service was just beginning and it was evident that she had already established a reputation as a dedicated member of the City Council who took on her responsibility with the utmost zeal and seriousness,” he said. “I send my condolences to the family and friends of Councilwoman Dumfur, her colleagues on the governing body and the entire Sayreville community.”
Fox News’ Laurence Richard, Emily Robertson and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.