By Chris Lundy and Jason Allentoff
TOMS RIVER – Township officials have shut down the site of a business where one person was shot and killed and two others were injured.
The shooting took place at around 1:20 a.m. on August 27 at 1783 Hooper Avenue. Police said a 25-year-old man was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River where he died of his injuries.
Another 29-year-old man was listed in critical but stable condition and a 25-year-old man was treated and released. Both had been brought to a different hospital.
The names of the people involved were not released by officials.
On the first business day after the homicide, township officials shut down the site.
Top Tier Hookha had their Certificate of Occupancy revoked due to multiple zoning, safety and code violations Mayor Maurice B Hill announced.
“This business has been under investigation by our Quality of Life Task Force due to multiple complaints,” Hill said. “The Task Force found several violations and instructed the business owners to bring the establishment into compliance. Those instructions were ignored. The investigation into Saturday’s shooting confirmed that the business owners were operating in violation of their approved status as a retail-only establishment and likely made false or misleading statements on their zoning application. As a result their Certificate of Occupancy has been revoked today and they are no longer permitted to operate or do business at 1783 Hooper Ave in the Silverton section of the Township.”
The Township’s Quality of Life Task Force includes representatives of the Police, Fire, Building, Zoning and Code Enforcement departments. In previous instances, they have been brought to bear on hotels that housed drug dealers.
In addition to being shut down, the business owner and property owner have been issued a fine of $4,500 and a summons which is answerable in Toms River Municipal Court on September 12
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Toms River Township Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit are all actively investigating the incident.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation should contact Detective Denis Mitchell of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027 or Detective Jennifer Grob of the Toms River Township Police Department at 732-349-0150.
