The Jersey Shore teen who killed four people on New Year’s Eve — including his mother, father and sister — pumped multiple bullets into the victims at close range, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Scott Kologi, 16, is accused of opening fire inside his home in Long Branch, N.J. 20 minutes before the clock struck midnight.
Wielding a semiautomatic rifle, the autistic teen killed his parents Steven and Linda Kologi, his 18-year-old sister Brittany, and his grandfather’s partner Mary Schultz, 70, prosecutors said.
“This is a heartbreaking family tragedy,” said Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.
“The unfortunate and sad reality is that (in) this case, we seek justice for the remaining family members of those that died,” he added. “The sad fact is justice is likely going to involve serious punishment for yet another family member.”
Scott Kologi was charged as a juvenile with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose.
The suspect was expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday but it was postponed a day as a judge considered a media request to open it to the public.
Gramiccioni said his office will seek to try Kologi as an adult.
“There’s a process and a procedure that comes with that,” Gramiccioni added. “Those steps will be taken as soon as he has his rights administered to him at the retention hearing that will come tomorrow.”
Three people, including one of the gunman’s brothers and their grandfather, escaped the home unhurt, prosecutors said.
Kologi was arrested at the blood-soaked scene without incident.
Authorities have yet to reveal a motive.
