New Jersey Councilwoman Is Fatally Shot, Officials Say

Eunice K. Dwumfour, a 30-year-old councilwoman serving her first term in Sayreville, N.J., was fatally shot on Wednesday night, officials said.

The authorities said they received reports of a shooting at 7:22 p.m. in Parlin, an unincorporated area of Sayreville, according to a statement by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. Officers with the Sayreville Police Department found Ms. Dwumfour in her car with multiple gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The authorities did not say whether there is a suspect in the crime and have not offered any information about a possible motive. An investigation is ongoing.

Victoria Kilpatrick, the mayor of Sayreville, said in a statement that “the fact that she was taken from us by a despicable criminal act makes this incident all the more horrifying.”

Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey said he was “stunned” by the “act of gun violence,” adding that Ms. Dwumfour “had already built a reputation as a committed member of the Borough Council who took her responsibility with the utmost diligence and seriousness.”

Sayreville, with a population of about 45,000 people, is in Middlesex County, about 30 miles south of Manhattan.

Alexandra Bryan, who lives in the residential complex next to the parking lot where the shooting occurred, said she heard something that sounded like fireworks just after 7 p.m.

“Two times, right after one another,” Ms. Bryan, 40, said. “Like five seconds apart.”

On Thursday morning, she went outside and spotted damage to two cars parked in the lot where the shooting took place. Other residents said the car the councilwoman was in when she was shot appeared to roll and strike the parked vehicles.

“It’s a sad world,” Ms. Bryan said.

“It’s a really nice complex,” she added. “Children are able to play around without parents. It’s always quiet. That’s why it’s such a shock to everybody.”

Another neighbor said she regularly saw the councilwoman going to church on Sunday with her husband and two children.

Ms. Dwumfour was elected to the Sayreville Borough Council in 2021 after she and another Republican candidate, Christian Onuoha, unseated two Democratic incumbents on the six-person council. She was serving a three-year term.

In a statement about her campaign on the Sayreville Republican Party’s website, Ms. Dwumfour said she loved and cherished Sayreville and wanted to help improve the lives of its residents. “I am fully dedicated to building a better, stronger Sayreville, and with your support, we can create a brighter future for our wonderful town,” she said.

Ms. Dwumfour, who graduated from Newark Public Schools, was a business analyst and a professional scrum master, a type of project manager, with background work in both Maryland and Virginia, according to her LinkedIn profile. In 2017, she received a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from William Paterson University of New Jersey.

Karen Bailey Bebert, the Sayreville Republican chair who was Ms. Dwumfour’s campaign manager, said in an interview on Thursday that the councilwoman was an “inspirational woman” who was excited to get into politics at a young age. She overcame challenges “with grit and a smile,” she said.

Ms. Dwumfour, who had a daughter, “took on the challenge of this leadership position at a young age and she set a great example for others to follow: If you can see me, you can be me,” Ms. Bebert said.

Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed reporting.