A New Jersey cop furious over child custody issues ran his ex-wife off the road, then gunned her down in front his young daughter and fellow officers Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Neptune Township Sgt. Philip Seidle put the gun to his head after the killing, keeping Asbury Park cops at a distance for nearly half an hour.
He eventually surrendered and was charged with murder, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.
“First and foremost our hearts and prayers go out to the Seidle children and the family of Tamara Seidle,” Gramiccioni said.
The terrifying scene played out shortly before noon in a residential neighborhood of Asbury Park.
“It looks like he just snapped,” witness Linda Jones, a neighbor who knows Seidle, told the Asbury Park Press. “I’m sad for the wife. I’m sad for the children, I’m sad for him.”
Cops handling an unrelated car crash spotted Seidle tailing his ex-wife’s Volkswagen Jetta.
Tamara Seidle had her 7-year-old daughter in the car when she rounded a corner and slammed into a row of parked vehicles, authorities said.
Philip Seidle, who was off-duty, bolted out of his Honda Pilot, gun drawn.
He blasted his ex through the Volkswagen’s window, then allowed officers to take his daughter from the car — only to immediately shoot his wife again afterward, police said.
In witness videos obtained by NJ.com, Seidle can be seen pacing in a peach-colored polo shirt and black shorts, pointing the gun to his temple as officers take cover.
The sound of four shots cuts through the air as Seidle unloaded a second cluster of bullets into the Volkswagen.
He returned the gun to his head and held cops at bay for about 25 minutes, authorities said.
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Seidle finally surrendered after fellow officers arrived on the scene.
His daughter wasn’t wounded, authorities said.
Witnesses heard Seidle shouting about an ongoing court battle over the former couple’s nine children, who range in age from 7 to 24, the Asbury Park Press reported.
“The guy was in the middle of the street,” witness Michael Terrell told the paper. “He was saying, ‘I’m tired of going to court.'”
Seidle was a 22-year veteran in Neptune and served four years in the Navy. He split with his wife less than a month ago after nearly 25 years of marriage.
The cop was obsessed with porn and video games, cheated on his wife and often got violent with her. When she was pregnant, he once kicked her in the stomach, and also held a gun to her head and cocked it, according to a divorce complaint obtained by the Asbury Park Press.
He also beat her on her birthday when she fought with him about a charge for pornography on their cable pill, the complaint said.
Seidle was charged with murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and endangering the welfare of a child — his daughter.
He was held at Monmouth County Correctional Institute on $2 million bail, and faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.
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