Politics & Government
Mayor, Council Praise Emergency Response to Stabbing
School district, police department acted correctly, officials say
Berkeley Township Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. and Township Council members praised the actions of the police department and the school district in response to the stabbing Friday at ShopRite and the arrest of the suspect in the case.
Amato and council members spoke at the council meeting Tuesday night about the incident where Christopher Page, 34, is accused of stabbing Noah Jackson, 37, during a confrontation inside ShopRite, where Jackson is an employee.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Jackson has been discharged from Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was airlifted shortly after the incident, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Page, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and weapons charges, is being held at the Ocean County Jail, Toms River, in lieu of $500,000 bail, with no ten percent option.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Amato and the council praised Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele and her officers for their professionalism during the incident. DiMichele posted police officers at H&M Potter School and Bayville School while Page was being sought.
In response to criticism that the district should have locked down the schools while Page was, Councilman Thomas Grosse said the district took the steps it needed to take.
"The principals began safety procedures immediately," said Grosse, who is a Toms River police officer.
Those procedures included not only keeping the students inside the school but also closing all the windows and ensuring that all the doors were locked.
Berkeley Township School Board President Steven Pellecchia - who was joined in the audience by board members Noriko Kowalewski and Sophia Gingrich - also thanked police during the public comment portion for posting officers at the schools while the search for Page was conducted.
Council President James J. Byrnes added his praise for the police department. He noted that last week began with responding to the suicide of a Central Regional High School sophomore and also included the accident Friday night in front of ShopRite where four pedestrians were hit by a pickup truck as they crossed Route 9 after getting off an NJ Transit bus at Frederick Drive.
"It was a tough week," Byrnes said.
