Suspect shot and killed by New Jersey State Trooper in Union

UNION, N.J. (WABC) -- A man is dead after being shot by state troopers as they said he drove a stolen Jeep toward them Tuesday evening in Union.

Authoritis said they were investigating a stolen car and tried to stop the Jeep, when it backed into a parked car and then sped toward an officer.

The Parlin man, identified as 35-year-old Daniel Wolfe, was pronounced dead at University Hospital. He had a criminal history of carjacking, police said.

"Stuff like this doesn't ever happen here," area resident Samantha Desronvio said. "When you have a situation like this, it's kind of crazy. You think, is this really happening here?"

Police said they had the vehicle under surveillance when the suspect arrived in another vehicle and got in the stolen SUV. The vehicle had reportedly been carjacked in Bloomfield back on April 17.

Some residents were confronted by the chaotic scene on their way home.

"We came with the police tape was up and some people were yelling at us to go back," resident Yvette Vence said. "Our neighbor started saying that a cop had shot a guy in the vehicle and that he had been pursuing him because of some sort of carjacking."

Police had attempted to stop the suspect by blocking him in, but he reversed the SUV and then drove forward in the direction of a trooper that was in front of him. That's when the trooper opened fire. Wolfe was struck in the chest and shoulder.

As neighbors watched the police and Attorney General's Shooting Response Team investigate the scene, they feel others could have easily been hurt.

"They're lucky there were no people walking over here," neighbor Juan Nieves said. "Nobody walk(ing), everybody was in the house."

The trooper was not injured.