CrimeRecon

NJ · March 16, 2026

Mom Reports Heart Attack, Gets Shot 40 Minutes Later

At 2 a.m. on March 16, 2026, Susanne Clarke called 911 from her home in the Lanoka Harbor section of Lacey Township, New Jersey, saying she thought she was having a heart attack - then hung up, and told the officers who arrived that she felt fine and wanted them to leave. This police bodycam footage follows the next forty minutes, as four Lacey Township officers circle the house and debate on camera whether a woman refusing all help is reason enough to go in.

Reconstructed timeline

Times from synchronized camera clocks and dispatch records.

  1. 2:00 AM

    911 heart-attack call, then hang-up

    Around 2 a.m. Susanne Clarke calls 911 saying 'I think I'm having a heart attack.' Asked where she is, she answers 'I don't know'; she gives her name and hangs up. Time is approximate ('around 2 a.m.' per NJ.com); exact call time not fixed in the clocked media. The released 911 audio is in the…

  2. 2:05 AM

    Officer en route, radio address confusion

    BWC 1 (Officer 1 / Gant) opens with the officer driving to the scene at night, radioing about two Hemlock Drives while dispatch coordinates the response to the Lanoka Harbor home.

  3. 2:08 AM

    Radio: caller name/history checks

    Over the radio the number comes back to the caller and officers request history; they report nothing significant comes up on her name. Later transmissions include supervisor and mobile crisis / CIT requests (the family statement says a crisis intervention team had been contacted).

  4. 2:12 AM

    Officer sees the woman through a side window

    Officer 1 observes the subject through an illuminated side window and radios that he has someone inside.

  5. 2:13 AM

    Knock at the front door, IDs as police

    Officer 1 approaches the front door, knocks, identifies as Lacey Township Police and calls out for Susanne.

  6. 2:15 AM

    Contact attempts through side window; she says she feels better

    Officer 1 works the side windows trying to talk the subject to the door. Through the window she says she did call 911 but feels better now and wants the officers to leave.

  7. 2:17 AM

    Officer circles to the rear sliding glass door

    Officer 1 moves around the back patio to the rear sliding glass door, continuing to try to see and speak with the subject; officers note she is at times on the floor.

  8. 2:17 AM

    Officer confers with EMS/EMT in the driveway

    Officer 1 walks out to the driveway and confers with an EMT (Witness 1) and another officer about the odd situation; EMS never makes contact with the subject.

  9. 2:21 AM

    Woman opens the front door, yells, slams it

    The subject briefly opens the front door, shouts at the officers (telling them to stop harassing her / to leave), and slams the door shut. Officers say she called them for help and they cannot just leave.

  10. 2:37 AM

    Officers regroup at windows, weigh going in

    Officers hold at the windows discussing radio reports and next steps; the perimeter has been circled repeatedly and none of the windows can be opened from outside. Per news, Officer 1 says about 17 minutes in 'she's laying on the ground, we're going in the house.'

  11. 2:43 AM

    Additional officers arrive; entry phase begins

    BWC 3 and BWC 4 begin recording as more officers converge and the response shifts from contact attempts to forcing entry.

  12. 2:43 AM

    Officer says the woman stabbed her dog

    On BWC 1 Officer 1 is heard saying '[unintelligible] she stabbed a dog' while looking through the rear patio door; news attributes to him the further claim of a 'knife in the dog.' The family strongly disputes this, saying the released video shows the dog unharmed and that the AG did not repeat…

  13. 2:43 AM

    Officers try to force a door

    Officers attempt forced entry with physical kicks at a door (news: they try to kick in the front door). BWC 4 captures the kicking attempt.

  14. 2:44 AM

    Officer breaches side window, backs out from the knife

    Officer 1 breaks/opens a side window and starts to enter, then stumbles back out saying (per news) 'what are you doing - she's coming at me with a knife.' He moves toward the backyard as officers begin yelling commands.

  15. 2:44 AM

    'Drop the knife' - woman comes out with a knife

    Officers shout 'Drop the knife!' as the subject comes out the rear sliding door holding a knife (news: also a reusable shopping bag) and moves. The AG says she advanced toward officers; the family's attorney says BWC 4 shows her running away and trying to leave the yard. DISPUTED.

  16. 2:44 AM

    Officer fires; four gunshots

    Officer 1 (Gant, per news) fires at the subject in the side yard; four gunshots are heard. She is struck (news: a shot to the abdomen). Captured across BWC 1, BWC 3 and BWC 4.

  17. 2:44 AM

    Scene secured; knife located; first aid begins

    Officers secure the scene, locate the knife, and begin emergency aid; about a minute after the shots one officer notes a shot to the abdomen. EMS, already staged, moves in.

  18. 3:24 AM

    Woman pronounced dead

    Susanne Clarke is pronounced dead outside her home at 3:24 a.m. Report-only; not captured in the released footage set. The state investigation was ongoing at the time of the July 2026 release, with no charges announced.

Scene maps

Scene map - locations sync with the video12 moments linked
Incident SceneClick to enlarge

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