A man was shot and killed by Hamilton Township police officers Sunday night after officials said the man pointed a firearm at police.
The police department reported its officers responded to the 1200 block of Adams Road just after 6 p.m.
Officials said there was a report of a male armed with a weapon, threatening to harm himself, who had discharged shots inside his home.
Chief Scott Hughes said officers who responded to the scene promptly called the Warren County Tactical Response Unit. While our officers were securing the perimeter, and awaiting the arrival of the SWAT team, the individual emerged from the residence pointing a firearm at the direction of our officers, which caused our officers to defend themselves and use lethal force, Hughes reported in a press release.
Flags in Phillipsburg were at half staff on Sunday after an off-duty police officer was killed in a motorcycle crash on Saturday night as he tried to avoid a crash.
Officer Dominic Belcastro was riding a Harley-Davidson east on Route 22 around 6:30 p.m. when a car heading for the turnaround near the post office pulled out from Firth Street, prosecutors said.
Belcastro hit the car after he tried to put the bike down on the road, a common way to avoid a crash, but the bike slid past the car and stopped past the intersection.
Belcastro was pronounced dead at the scene, Warren County s prosecutor told LehighValleyLive.com.
Phillipsburg police officer killed in motorcycle crash was ‘hopelessly devoted’ father, husband
Updated 3:58 PM;
Today 1:50 PM
A fatal crash April 3, 2021, involving a motorcycle and a car tied up traffic for hours on eastbound Memorial Parkway near Firth Street in Phillipsburg.
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As a husband, Dominic “Dom” Belcastro was larger-than-life, with an upbeat personality. He adored the girl he met in the classroom while they both attended Phillipsburg High School and she felt the same. They were inseparable best of friends even before marriage.
As the father of two young girls, one in elementary school and another in middle school, he was hopelessly devoted and their biggest cheerleaders, his wife said. On the force, fellow Phillipsburg Police Department officers recalled their colleague of about nine years as dedicated and neighboring law enforcement described him as “one of the good ones.”