Jill and Tom Kwatkoski, Jersey Shore couple shot by neighbor John Adamo amid long time feud between warring households in ritzy upscale area. Gun violence leads to Staten Island native taking his own life after barricading self in his own home. Cops had responded no less than half a dozen times the past year alone.
‘Please get the cops here. I’m bleeding to death….’ A long running feud between two neighbors in the well to do enclave of Jersey Shore has led to a couple fighting for their lives and the shooter dead after turning the weapon on himself.
Jill and Tom Kwatkoski were gunned down outside their million dollar home on Drake Drive in Berkeley Township just on 4.45 p.m, Monday afternoon by their next-door neighbor John Adamo, 54.
‘Please get the cops here. I’m bleeding to death.’
Adamo shot the husband while he outside doing work on his residence, before firing into the house striking the wife.
Adamo is alleged to have then fled to his home and barricaded himself in an upstairs room before turning the gun on himself, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Major Crime Unit and Berkeley Township Police Department.
Jill Kwatkoski, a mother of four was heard screaming during a 911 call pleading for help. ‘My neighbor! We got shot by our neighbor! 11 Drake Drive. Please hurry,’ according to audio obtained by NBC4.
‘Please get the cops here. I’m bleeding to death. ‘I can’t leave my kids. If I do, please tell them that I love them,’ she told the dispatcher.
The couple were airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune listed in critical but stable condition.
The Kwatkoski’s had recently installed new security cameras and a ‘No Trespassing’ and ‘Private Property’ signs that called out Adamo and his wife by name. The signs and camera faced their home.
An eyewitness told The New York Post that before the shooting occurred the two households arguing, leading to Adamo ripping off one of the surveillance cameras sitting on a wooden pole.
Jersey Shore community searches for answers
Audio of the desperate 911 call reveals Jill Kwatkoski saying that at least three shots were fired.
‘My husband, I think he’s dead outside and my leg is killing me,’ she said.
Despite being in excruciating pain, Jill managed to share details about the moments leading up to the shooting.
She told the operator that her husband was working outside near their home at the corner of Drake and Amherst Drive when Adamo walked over to him and open fired.
The wife told the dispatcher ‘there’s blood everywhere,’ and then told her the type of gun he was using.
‘It looks like a f****** rifle. It looked like a rifle,’ she said. ‘Please hurry.’
Monday’s dispute was one of many feuds the couple and Adamo had engaged in over the years according to neighbors.
Those who knew the dueling homeowners described, Adamo as an alcoholic and a ‘nut job’ while others called him a ‘nice guy’ particularly when ‘sober.’ The Kwatkoski’s were described as ‘extraordinarily nice people.’
One neighbor shared that one of their children is a cancer survivor and that the family is very active in volunteering and fundraising for childhood cancer.
Over the last year, police have responded to the homes at least a half a dozen times, NBC4 reported.
Neighbor Joe Spicciatie explained, ‘they’ve been in a longtime dispute. I don’t know what brought it to that point.’
‘They have the cameras aimed at each other’s houses, but in my book they were all nice.’
“We’re all friends in the neighborhood and, you know, we have parties together,’ neighbor, Louie Pascalli told CBS New York. ‘[There was] always friction, but never anything serious like this.’
According to reports, Adamo, who was originally from Staten Island, had been cut off from his family due to his issue with alcoholism and his deceased father’s estate.
A GoFundMe was created to help raise money to go towards the couple’s recovery and medical expenses.
A wake will be held for Adamo on Monday at Scarpaci Funeral Home of Staten Island and a funeral on Tuesday at Holy Child Church.
Authorities continue to investigate.
