Police Have No Idea He Killed 3 Family Members Inside

Reconstructed timeline

Times from synchronized camera clocks and dispatch records.

1. 5:29 PM

   Barnes fatally stabs mother and grandparents inside the home

   Report-only, not on the footage set. Per the NJ Attorney General (via Patch), Barnes stabbed his mother and both grandparents to death inside the River Road home shortly before police arrived (~5:30 p.m.). Placed just before the first recording; time is AG-stated, minute-level.

2. 5:29 PM

   Radio dispatch of the armed domestic begins

   Recording set opens on the police radio channel: a possible domestic on River Road, women screaming and a male crying, a man threatening to kill his family, weapons in the house.

3. 5:30 PM

   First officer responds, driving to the scene

   The first-arriving officer drives at night monitoring dispatch about the armed subject and reported knife.

4. 5:31 PM

   Second officer responds; dispatch gives suspect description

   A second officer (BWC 2) drives toward the call while dispatch describes a white male with a beard in a brown Carhartt jacket and reports a knife.

5. 5:32 PM

   First officer arrives, exits vehicle, walks toward the home

   The first officer parks, exits, and walks a snow-covered path toward the lit residence.

6. 5:33 PM1:01

   Initial porch contact with Barnes

   The officer meets Barnes standing on the front porch; Barnes claims people in a car tried to kill him and says the officer's flashlight is blinding him. Officer shines a light to see his hands.

7. 5:33 PM1:25

   Radio: subject is armed with a knife, went inside and locked the door

   Officer broadcasts that the subject is armed with a knife and has gone inside and locked the door. Per the AG release, Barnes picked up a knife from the ground, went inside, and locked the front door after the brief porch contact.

8. 5:35 PM3:19

   Officer meets the fled relative; learns others are inside and the subject's name

   The officer moves to the driveway and meets a fled male relative (Witness 1) who says three more people are still inside ('they're all in there') and identifies the subject as 'Jordan'.

9. 5:36 PM3:59

   Barnes appears at the window, makes a neck gesture, yells officers aren't getting in

   Barnes appears at a window, makes a slitting gesture across his neck, and shouts he is not getting into 'this f - house.' Officer 5 relays the neck gesture on the radio; the AG release places the gesture at a second-story window.

10. 5:36 PM4:07

    Fled relative works a second 911 call from the corner

    The fled male relative, standing outside in his socks, is on 911: he says Barnes said he's going to kill everyone, that he's running around outside, and that he has never been violent before.

11. 5:36 PM4:28

    Relative points officers to a key behind the porch dresser

    The relative tells officers there is a key to the front door behind a dresser on the porch; officers plan phone contact and stage at the door.

12. 5:37 PM4:34

    Officers work the porch, calling to 'Jordan' through the door glass

    Multiple officers assemble on the front porch, repeatedly calling to 'Jordan' through the decorative door glass to make contact and de-escalate; the BWC 2 officer draws and holds a yellow Taser.

13. 5:37 PM5:18

    Radio: 'you guys are clear to kick that door'

    Dispatch/supervisor clears officers to force the door.

14. 5:37 PM5:27

    Through the glass, officers see two people down inside

    Looking through the front-door sidelight, officers see two people on the floor inside and say they have people on the ground.

15. 5:37 PM5:33

    Officers decide to make entry with the relative's key; call for medical

    Officers agree they must make entry, retrieve the key from behind the dresser, and call for a med bag and BLS/ALS while continuing to command 'Jordan.'

16. 5:38 PM6:00

    Radio: 'We got victims' - two people down, request medical, clear to enter

    Officers relay two people down in the house and that they have victims; medical is requested and entry is imminent.

17. 5:38 PM6:31

    Taser warning; door opened; commands to drop the knife

    An officer warns Barnes he will be tased; a hostile voice answers from inside. Officers open the door and repeatedly command Barnes to put the knife down and get on the ground.

18. 5:38 PM6:36

    Door opens; Barnes advances with a knife; officers taser, then Ward fires

    The door opens onto Barnes holding a kitchen knife. He does not drop it and advances toward officers. Three officers discharge Taser-type devices; Barnes keeps coming, and Officer John Ward fires his service weapon. (Knife-in-left-hand, three-Taser and shooter details are report-only per the AG…

19. 5:38 PM6:36

    Shots strike Barnes; 'he's down'; 'Shots fired!'

    Barnes is struck and goes down; officers call 'secure him' and broadcast shots fired.

20. 5:38 PM6:36

    Officers secure Barnes, clear the knife, render aid

    Officers secure and handcuff Barnes, get the knife away, and begin medical aid and status calls.

21. 5:39 PM7:26

    Struggle on the porch floor; blood visible

    Officers work on Barnes on the porch floor, rolling him and requesting medical; blood is visible in frame on BWC 5.

22. 5:39 PM7:27

    Radio: 'at least three ambulances... probably going to be a homicide'

    An officer requests at least three ambulances and three medic units and tells dispatch this is probably going to be a homicide.

23. 5:40 PM

    Three family members found fatally stabbed inside

    Report-only, minute-level placement after the shooting. Police found Barnes' mother Jeanmarie Barnes (60), grandfather Richard A. Barnes (86), and grandmother Brenda F. Barnes (84) dead inside with multiple stab wounds. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the deaths.