TOMS RIVER, NJ – A standoff between police and a fugitive murder suspect has ended and early reports are indicating that the suspect is dead. A police SWAT team attempted to make entry into a home in the East Dover section of Toms River on Ravenwood Drive shortly before 7 pm. They were confronted by a woman who surrendered to police, but Max Johnston, the man wanted for killing a 25-year-old woman in Manchester, remained inside the home.
By 7:45 pm, police reported that the standoff had ended after police gained entry into the home. When they entered, they found Johnston dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
“The suspect suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Thank you for your support during this extremely tense and dangerous situation. No law enforcement personnel or residents were injured,” the department posted minutes ago.
It has been reported that Johnston was found dead inside the home. It is not known at this time how he died.
Johnston was wanted for the cold-blooded murder of 25-year-old Gabriella Caroleo. He gunned down Caroleo in broad daylight and in cold blood near the intersection of Route 571 and South Hope Chapel Road in Manchester. She left behind a young child.
“Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Toms River Township Police Chief Mitchell Little announced that Maxwell Johnston, 35, of Manchester Township, who was wanted in connection with the Murder of Gabriella Caroleo, 25, of Seaside Heights, that occurred in Manchester Township on June 27, 2024, is deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a nearly seven hour standoff at 1905 Ravenwood Drive in Toms River,” the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said tonight in a statement.
