RUTHERFORD — The gunshots that wounded an armed bank robber during a hostage standoff on Thursday were fired by an officer who almost lost his job last year as the borough sought to spend less on policing, officials confirmed Friday.
The officer — identified Friday as William J. Sommers, 36 — fired several rounds outside a Chase Bank branch on Union Avenue, striking a gunman who had pointed a weapon at one of four borough officers, according to an eyewitness. The man had held the gun to the head of a female hostage as they emerged from the bank, before throwing her to the ground and turning the gun on police, the witness said.
Sommers is considered a "sharpshooter" at the Rutherford Police Department — one of the most accurate on the force, said Borough Councilman George Fecanin, the liaison to the department. Sommers often trains fellow officers at the range on how to best handle a firearm, he said.
But seven months ago, Sommers and another officer were caught in a different kind of crossfire — a budget battle between the council and the police union that came close to ending Sommers' career with his hometown force.
The layoffs, which would have taken effect in November, were rescinded after the police union agreed to have each officer take time off instead of extra pay for 64 hours of overtime through the end of this year.
"He's the kind of police officer you would want at a scene like that," Fecanin said. "Calm and cool."
Sommers could not be reached Friday.
Meanwhile, at least part of the criminal investigation into the bank robbery, which forced an emergency lockdown at a nearby school, began to focus on whether the wounded robber had raided other North Jersey banks.
Clifton police anticipated charging the Rutherford suspect in connection with the holdup of an Investors Savings Bank branch at Village Square East in March 2010, Detective Capt. Robert Rowan said. The robber in that case held a stun gun to a bank manager's neck and threatened to use it if she did not meet his demands. The thief fled with an unspecified amount of money.
An assistant manager at the Investors Savings Bank branch, Altagrace Bernadotte, said Friday that she can still clearly remember what the assailant looked like, and that he did indeed use the stun gun on the manager. Rowan said Bernadotte might be called upon to link the Rutherford suspect to the Clifton robbery.
"It was devastating," she said. "He zapped her a few times. She got very panicky. We were all so scared. The manager who he did it to is no longer working for us."
No employees or customers were injured in the Rutherford incident, said Michael Fusco, a Chase Bank spokesman. The bank has offered counseling to those involved, he said.
Police escorted about six people from the bank to a nearby firehouse, said Jason Murray, a Belford Avenue resident who watched the standoff unfold about 120 feet from his home.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said authorities were investigating whether additional suspects were involved. He referred requests for more information on Friday to the FBI, which is leading the investigation.
But an FBI spokesman, Special Agent Bryan Travers, said federal investigators will not release any details until a formal complaint is filed.
The identity of the gunman has not been released. It is also unclear whether he is still at Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was taken after he was shot.
The robbery began about 1:30 p.m., but it wasn't until a half-hour later that a rapid police response caught the attention of bystanders.
Murray said he saw a man emerge from the bank holding a woman against his chest with his left arm and using his other hand to point a handgun at her head.
The officers repeatedly yelled at the gunman to "drop the weapon," Murray said, before following the gunman as he led the hostage toward Wells Place.
After turning the corner, the gunman pushed the woman to the ground and pointed his gun at one of the officers, Murray said.
Murray said he then heard three pops before the man fell to the ground.
"They did everything that could have possibly been done to get him to drop the weapon," Murray said Thursday, adding that police made sure to keep a line between the gunman and Union School, which straddles two blocks not far from the bank.
School officials locked the doors and ordered staff to move nearly 500 students into hallways, away from windows, where they sat in silence for close to a half-hour.
The four Rutherford police officers involved in the standoff were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center for observation, but were released Thursday night, Fecanin said.
Two borough sources with knowledge of the incident, but who did not want to be identified, said Sgt. Anthony Nunziato and Officers Frank Orlando and Jeffrey Wilkinson also confronted the gunman.
Sommers joined the force after attending Wagner College on Staten Island, where he made a name for himself as a defensive end and as a fullback in his senior year.
Sommers also was a standout athlete at Rutherford High School. He led the Bulldog defense in the fall and wrestled in the winter. As a senior, he was First Team All-Bergen Wrestling, and was regarded as one of the six best wrestlers in the state at 189 pounds.
In November 2007, Sommers and a firefighter rescued an 89-year-old woman from a burning home on Ayer Place, according to an account on a Rutherford Fire Department website.
Fecanin said he expects the officers to return to duty in a couple of days.
"When they're ready to," he said. "They're shooken up. Let's put it that way."