Investigation into death of Passaic County Sheriff Berdnik completed
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Richard Berdnik: New Jersey politicians pay tribute to sheriff at funeral
North Jersey leaders will pay their respects to Sheriff Richard Berdnik at his funeral mass on Wednesday, January 31, 2024.
Nearly six months after the death of Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik, the Passaic County District Attorney’s Office announced the investigation was closed and the cause of death was suicide by firearm.
The Passaic County District Attorney’s Office determined that the popular sheriff died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in January, according to an email from First Assistant District Attorney Jason Statuto.
“Based on the medical examiner’s final report,” Statuto’s email states, “Sheriff Berdnik’s cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was determined to be ‘suicide (by shooting himself).'”
Statuto said the toxicology reports, which law enforcement officials say can often take up to six months to complete, indicated “negative results.”
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In addition, the first assistant district attorney said the investigation into the incident “at Toro’s (restaurant) on January 23, 2024, has not produced any evidence that would challenge these findings of the medical examiner.”
NorthJersey.com requested the reports from the Attorney General’s Office under the Open Public Records Act. It is not clear when the investigation was completed.
Statuto did not specify the reason why Berdnik shot himself, nor whether there was or is an investigation into the motive.
Berdnik went to the bathroom at Toros, a popular Turkish restaurant on Hazel Street in Clifton, around 3:30 p.m., and shortly thereafter, people inside the restaurant heard a gunshot, police reports say.
At 3:38 p.m., a call was sent over the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office radio system for all units to convene at Toros.
Berdnik, a retired Clifton police officer, had been county sheriff since 2011 and was re-elected to a fifth three-year term in November 2022. He was in his mid-60s, and the friends and family he left behind were baffled as to what had prompted him to end his life.
Bill Gibson, a Clifton city councilman and Berdnik’s partner at the Clifton Police Department, said he first heard about the report’s findings from the reporter.
“Why he did it doesn’t interest me for a second,” Gibson said Tuesday. “If the district attorney’s office or the attorney general wants us to know, they will tell us.”
Gibson said it was important to let his family grieve and not reopen the wounds.
“I want his wife, his children and his grandchildren to be able to move on with their lives,” Gibson said.
Gibson was one of many who mourned the sheriff’s death. Berdnik’s funeral was attended by many state leaders as well as first responders from across the state.
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