Local man, 21, dies in shootout with cops

Sixto Martinez

A South River man was killed last week after he reportedly engaged in gunfire with several police officers at a New Brunswick apartment building.

Sixto Martinez, 21, died at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, June 6 after he first fired several gunshots at his estranged girlfriend's car, and then exchanged rounds with police who went to investigate the initial shooting.

The first shooting occurred shortly after 7 p.m. when Martinez fired nine shots from a third-story window at 25 John St., aimed at a car occupied by his former girlfriend and some of her family members. The estranged girlfriend, who had a temporary restraining order against Martinez, drove away from the scene and called 911, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. There were no injuries in that incident.

When officers arrived on the scene, they pounded on the door of the building in order to gain entrance. As New Brunswick Police Officer Patrick Evans stepped back from the door to verbally order Martinez, who was on the third floor, to open the door, Martinez fired two 9mm shots, hitting Evans. The officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was hospitalized overnight and released the next day.

As Evans moved to safety, Martinez walked down from the third floor to the ground floor and opened the front door, firing six more shots at the police officers, according to the prosecutor's office. Officer Dean Dakin and Sgt. William Oels returned fire, hitting Martinez once in the chest and four times in the lower extremities.

Emergency medical aid was summoned to the scene, and Martinez was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:37 p.m.

The fatal bullet may have come from Martinez's own gun, as an autopsy performed by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office showed that Martinez sustained a gunshot wound under his chin that lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain. Authorities said the shot appears to have been made at close contact and it was consistent with being self-inflicted.

Further investigation is pending as to which shot was fatal and the manner of death. As per the Use of Force protocol issued by the state Attorney General's Office, notification of the incident was provided to the state Division of Criminal Justice. As per the protocol, the inquiry into the incident is being handled by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

Anyone with information concerning the incident is asked to contact Investigator Eleazar Ricardo of the prosecutor's office at (732) 745-3300 or Detective Rodney Blount of the New Brunswick Police Department at (732) 745-5200.

Martinez, who was also known as Javier Valentin, had addresses in South River, New Brunswick and Edison, authorities said.