Investigation underway after Hudson County sheriff's officer dies after fall in Jersey City
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- Officials are investigating the death of a Hudson County sheriff's officer who fell from a building in Jersey City on Friday morning.
The incident occurred at the Hudson County Administration Building, located at 595 Newark Ave., shortly before 9:30 a.m.
First responders located the injured officer along the exterior of the building on Central Avenue.
Based on a preliminary investigation, officials say the officer, identified as 29-year-old Justin Rivera, fell from a ninth-floor window, and say his death appears to be an accident.
"I was walking around the corner and I heard glass break and then the man came straight down and just hit the ground with a thud," one witness said. "Then we saw two guys from the window look out...and then all the cops just rushed in."
Employees say the Hudson County sheriff's officer was in the building on the ninth floor, along with at least two others when he somehow fell from the window.
Witnesses say CPR was attempted on the scene before he was taken away in an ambulance. Rivera was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead around 10 a.m.
Officials say he was on-duty at the time of his death.
Rivera lived minutes away from his father in Bayonne. To say the tight-knit community is shocked is an understatement.
Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari released a statement in response to Rivera's death.
"Today is one of the saddest and most horrific days that the Hudson County Sheriff's Office has ever experienced," he said. "We lost an excellent officer today and an outstanding young man. Officer Justin Rivera was just 29 years old and he had his whole life ahead of him. But now because of a tragic accident he is gone. Nothing that we say or do can change that."
Hudson County Executive Craig Guy also released a statement.
"I would like to express my condolences to the family of the Hudson County Sheriff's Officer who tragically passed away. My prayers also go out to the Hudson County Sheriff and all the Sheriff's Officers, who lost a dedicated brother today," Guy said.
People who work in the building are bewildered how the fall could have happened.
Officials say the Hudson County Administration Building was not open to the public when the incident occurred due to an unrelated power outage Friday morning.
The circumstances leading up the officer's death remain under investigation.
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