Fire at Burlington County home turns into active shooter situation: officials

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Roads were closed for a major police response in Pemberton Township Saturday when what began as a fire in the Burlington County community, turned into a chaotic active shooter incident.

Jasmin Taylor lives on Woodland Avenue and says the active shooter incident happened two doors away. She shared a Facebook live video of police running with long guns and another with a stretcher.

"My kids were outside. They said it smelled like barbecue, so we didn’t think anything of it and then we heard what sounded like a gunshot, so I told all the kids to come in," Taylor explained. "Next thing you know, we see all the cops down there and madness ensued after that."

The encounter unfolded around 3:15 Saturday afternoon. The Burlington County 911 supervisor told FOX 29 first responders were called for smoke coming from a home on Woodland Avenue. The situation quickly escalated when they arrived.

Neighbors talked about the danger. Mark Ruquet said, "I think it’s pretty sad that that did happen. I hope nobody else was injured."

Larry Blinn added, "Always worry about the police, the fire, the ambulance and, of course, it’s a sad thing for somebody to confront the police."

Text message alerts for the active shooter went out to neighbors around 4 p.m. That was lifted about 40 minutes later, though a good stretch of Lakehurst Road remained closed well into the night.

"I wasn’t able to get through, obviously, and, yeah, I actually had to go through the woods to try to find a shortcut," neighbor Iris Rivera said. "I’ve been told now I have to walk home."

While many questions remain, Taylor talked about man who lived in the home at the center of the investigation, saying, "Kind of stays to himself. I know his father passed away, I think, at the beginning of the year. So, since then, he’s kind of been in the house.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is leading the investigation.