Ryan Riegel News Today

Both the State Police and the DEP deemed Francos death unintentional. The Sussex County Prosecutors Office said the juvenile holding the shotgun was a family member, but authorities have declined to identify the person further. Police and firefighters from departments across the area lined the funeral route, including a contingent from the William Paterson University police force, where the officer had once worked. End of watch At Fairview Cemetery, the snow had stopped falling as the crowd�...

New Jersey Herald Franco, 38, was deer hunting near Havens Road in Wantage when he was struck with a shotgun bullet that was accidentally discharged by a juvenile, a spokesman with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said. Franco died at the scene. Visitation is scheduled for Monday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Pinkel Funeral Home at 31 Bank St. in Sussex Borough, followed by a funeral service. Immediately following, Franco will be laid to rest with firemans services at F...

New Jersey Herald Colleagues and neighbors in two Sussex County towns mourned the loss of Jason Franco on Wednesday, remembering the Hamburg police officer and Montague volunteer firefighter killed the previous day on a family hunting trip.  "Were all in shock," Hamburg Mayor Paul Marino said in a telephone interview, pausing to remember when the 38-year-old Franco arrived at his mothers home for an emergency call. "He couldnt have been any nicer to her," Marino recalled.  Franco, who was h...