Killed At Long Branch

Mrs. Emma Hibbetts Shot By Harry Brooks

Brooks Says the Shooting Was an Accident - He Told Mrs. Hibbetts He Was Going to Shoot Her, but That He Did Not Mean It

Mrs. George Hibbetts of Long Branch was shot and killed last Friday afternoon by Harry Brooks. Brooks and the Hibbetts were neighbors, and Brooks was a frequent visitor at the Hibbetts house. Last Friday just after dinner he went into Mrs. Hibbetts's house. He sat down into a chair and pulled out a pistol.

"Em, I'm going to shoot you," he said, and as he aimed the pistol at her and pulled the trigger. The pistol went off and Mrs. Hibbitts screamed out that she was shot.

Brooks says he did not know the pistol was loaded, and that he was only in play when he pulled it out. He ran out of the house, and Mrs. Hibbetts followed him. She dropped dead in the yard, a few steps from the door.

Brooks was arrested at once and was sent to the county jail. A coroner's jury was impaneled, which found a verdict stating that her death was due to a pistol shot fired by Harry Brooks, but they stated that they were unable to determine whether or not the killing was intentioned.

Mrs. Hibbetts lived on Borden street Red Bank, for a time. She leaves a husband and one child, a girl about eleven years old.

Brooks will remain in jail until the grand jury meets in January, when his case will be taken up.

Source: Red Bank Register, Wednesday, November 2, 1898