Shooting At Montclair YMCA Family Center

I just got home and drove by that area. It's all blocked off. Lots of police and ambulances. I saw a channel 9 truck, maybe they will have coverage later.

Damn, this is crazy. The man went in the Y, asked where the pool was and no one stopped him to ask if he was a member? He just went back and shot her? Maybe the front desk person should lose their job, if that's how it goes...

I wanted to go for a run so I called the police and asked if it was safe to go out with the shooting and all. The officer on the line just said "yea" and hung up. So, cops, if I'm shot while running, you will be in big trouble.

Katie,

My daughter and I attend classes at the Y. They don't check IDs (nor do they issue them) at the front desk. They do take attendance in the pool area, and anyone may observe the classes from the observation area. I guess all that will change.

My daughter and I live nearby and were walking home from a brief trip downtown when we saw all the police cars flying by. How awful.

Unbelievable,

I mentioned checking ID's to the staff there-- can't get into the big Y without--- and they looked at me like I was crazy-- this is the "little" Y....

But then again, who knows what this crazy would have done if an employee were to ask him for ID...

You can't stop and angry person who has the intention and means to do harm.....

I have two tags hanging from my keychain (not with photos) for my children at the Little Y. I have NEVER been asked to produce them. I sure hope they will now....

At 6:45, I was walking to the Y with my son to go to the open gym class they have when another parent we always see there stopped me from going any further. She had been crossing the street to enter the Y when it happened. Thank God we were all running late.
Now's the time for a lot of "what if" thoughts. Frightening.

My daughter started attending the day camp at the Y this week. I don't know what happens during the rest of the day, but I, and all the other campers' guardians, have been asked for our id's both when we drop off and pick up.
We received a call just now telling us that the children's Y will be closed tomorrow.

OMG - my daughter takes swim classes there as well - how scary!!

This from the Ledger:

Woman shot to death in Montclair YMCA
by Philip Read and George Berkin/The Star-Ledger Thursday June 26, 2008, 8:08 PM
A woman was shot to death inside a Montclair YMCA tonight, and police are searching for one or two suspects, authorities said.

The unidentified victim was shot multiple times at about 6:30 p.m. inside the Helen and Bill Geyer YMCA Family Center on Glenridge Avenue, Police Chief David Sabagh said.

"Somebody came in the building and confronted her," Deputy Police Chief Perry Mayers said.

The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, Sabagh added.

Although there was only one gunman, police suspect an accomplice may have been waiting in a getaway vehicle, Mayers said. The gunman and his possible accomplice fled in what appeared to be a Jeep.

The suspects remained at large an hour after the shooting.

The manager of the township's other YMCA, on Park Street, identified herself at Pat, but declined to comment on the shooting.

Awful, and with all of those children there . . . it is hard to get your head around it.

I shudder to think that some of my daughter's classmates from her daycare program were in the pool at that time. We almost signed up for that time slot!

Scary. I was going outfor dinner on Walnut and noticed the bloodhound and police presence. I thought they were doing some sort of training excercise.

Like I said in the HS graduation post, dangerous town.

I do not understand how anyone that wants to own a handgun legally can not get one. yet any hood or thug can get one with ease. senseless at best...

Wow, rats in the park, pervs in the library, and gunmen in the Y. Mayberry this is not.

My prayers go to the children of Monica Paul.

I was there watching my son swim. However, I was not able to get him when the melee began and couldn't find him for about 15 long minutes. He and a few other kids were hiding in a mechanical room by the pool with two lifeguards that grabbed them. He says he did not see the "bad guy" but that he saw the glass shatter from one of the bullets. I don't think the kids were able to see exactly what happened -- but the glass breaking and then adults screaming in fear is scary enough, so it was traumatic for all of them. I remember when I was let in and not ID'd that anyone could walk in this place, but then thought "who would come in here unless you were a member"... my son tonight said he never wants to go back, and we won't be, though I will keep the conversation open as long as I feel he needs to talk about it. I feel for the 11 yr old who probably was in the waiting area with her mom -- her four yr old sibling probably couldn't see what happened.

My daughter was there for camp today so this really hit home.
I pray for this poor woman and her children.

What good would ID have done? If the shooter has a child at the Y then he has an ID for that child. In essence he is a member.

If this is a domestic crime then the police know who this person is; they just have to find him now.

I have ID tags on my keychain for the Little Y too. It doesn't mean a thing.

Kudos to the lifeguards who helped children take cover. Thank goodness no bystanders were hurt.

This guy was obviously on a mission to kill this woman. If his ID had been requested and he couldn't provide one, you'd probably have a Y parking lot shooting instead. Either way, it's a domestic dispute, and very, very sad.

There is a killer on the loose, and we need to help the police find him.

So why don't we have a description of him? What or who are we supposed to look for?

My heart breaks for this family. 1010WINS reports the 4 year old was in the pool and the 11 year old was by her side. This is so sad for the Paul children and all who were witness to this horrible act of violence. I wish I could help.

how horrible . . . and for her kids to see it too, i can't even imagine and don't want to

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the children.

ID at the Y wouldn't have spared their mother. The Y, swimming lessons, parents watching their kids, protective lifeguards, these are all good things.

Mixing guns into relationships suffering from domestic violence, that's a subject worth discussing.

What kind of asshole goes to a family place and shoots the mother of his children in front of them?

My sympathies to the woman's family and her children. The killer gets no sympathy from me.

Thank you for the added relevant description of Duckett.

Did anyone get a reverse 911 phone call from the Montclair PD?

I've never posted on Baristanet before, but I felt compelled to considering that the 11 year old was one of the students in my class last year.
She is sweet, smart, sassy and strong. My heart aches for her and her younger brother.

A history of domestic violence was known at home but I was shocked and saddened to read this.

The news describes Kenneth Duckett as 5'6", I remember him being taller, and with a shaved head.
He chaperoned at our school held Walk-A-Thon last September.

I remember Anton Duckett from M.H.S. He was a member of the class of 1990. What an awful story. Brings back memories of the murder of the Glenfield secretary who was killed by her boyfriend around '91.

The issue of ID is irrelevent. I was there. The receptionist was in NO POSITION to stop this man. Does anyone think he would have turned away if she'd asked for an ID? He might have shot her and others before reaching his intended victim. This is a simply tragedy and if there's any lesson to take here, it's that handguns are too readily available in our society. To suggest that greater security would do anything is simply foolish. It will simply drive up costs of services which, if not bad enough, since unless we intend to arm the Y, schools, pharmacies, town halls, etc., with armed police, will not accomplish anything.

People who turn their anger onto the Y or the receptionist are simply misdirecting understandable rage. Please re-think.

Baristas - I believe that the phone number for the Montclair Police is 973-744-1234. The number above appears to be incorrect.

I located a picture of a man with the same general information as the one being sought by the police. No direct link is possible. Enter the name into the NJDOC search form, link bellow.

https://www6.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatesearch.jsp

Well said, Emilytoo.

Good find Eddie - This picture should be circulated.

duckett is at fault not the Y or the receptionist. duckett decided to get a gun, hunt monica down, and pull the trigger. ID or no ID is not the question but rather how do we actively combat violence against women? how do we keep people like duckett from abusing women?

the death of monica is tragic but domestic violence has been one of the leading of causes of death among women for years. it's actually considered a major health issue.

i work with abused women and was headed to the Y. but when i heard the news i just went back home and headed to the shelter where i work because i knew the women there would be shaken.

duckett is at fault not the Y or the receptionist. duckett decided to get a gun, hunt monica down, and pull the trigger. ID or no ID is not the question but rather how do we actively combat violence against women? how do we keep people like duckett from abusing women?

the death of monica is tragic but domestic violence has been one of the leading of causes of death among women for years. it's actually considered a major health issue.

i work with abused women and was headed to the Y. but when i heard the news i just went back home and headed to the shelter where i work because i knew the women there would be shaken.

My heart is heavy for those poor children and they will be in my prayers.

Thinking about so many layers of this tragedy -

Today, the US Supreme Court ruled against the D.C. law prohibiting individual ownership of handguns.

Recent progress and frustrations in the effort to strengthen DYFS

Fatherhood

Victims of domestic violence

The range of reactions posted on this thread

Good catch Spicoli. I fixed the police number....

The DOC corrections search photo looks like the man I remember.

Haven't seen him recently, as I said but I remember what he looked like and how similar his daughter's big pool like brown eyes were to his.
How do we get this information in the right hands?

A comment from a reader of the Star Ledger reports that the murdered went behind the library and shot himself. There is no confirmation of this report in the media, that I can find.

Its amazing how things like this just hit you in ways you dont expect. My common sense tells me - this was an incidint of domestic violence the Y (and Montclair) is no more dangerous today than yesterday or the grocery store or any other publc place. My heart however has that sick feeling that makes me feel afraid for myself and my family. I feel sick to my stomach to think the effect this has on her children. I even feel sick for all the other children there and the parents who were probably all sitting around with thier other children in tow watching thier happy little ones splash around in the pool, maybe today was the day they finally paddled across and had that proud little smile on thier face. Everyone who was there will have some lasting effect from this. I only hope the children were young enough only to be afraid and not fully understand what happened. My heart and prayers go out to the victims two children, I hope they have a strong extended family to help them through this.

I was on No Willow at PAWS at 6:30 and I saw all the cops running by us. No one told us to get inside and lock our doors.

How very sad for this poor woman and her children. I really hope they catch the person responsible for this.

Thanks Girl, you seemed to write exactly what I was feeling.....

I would add that the wonderful staff at the Y-- the great and loving instructors, the kind folks at the desk-- are the best in the community.

That they had to deal with this is horrible.

They they did it so well, under such pressure, shows the kind of great kids we have all over.

Love and prayers for the children and their family

I have been going to the Y for years, and concur about the wonderful staff who truly care about what they do. I have been there when they called a Code Blue for emergency and seen the swift response.
Read above about how the lifeguards took the children into the mechanical room. Watch the news as they show the barefoot Y staffer who tried to save Monica in vain.
Then think twice about bashing the Y for not checking IDs. This could not have been prevented by the Y by anything other than an armed guard and metal detectors and is that how you want your children to enter swim class?

mandy,

I don't think anyone is "bashing" the Y re: ID's.

For some of us who go to the big Y, it seemed odd that at one you cannot enter without, yet at the other one-- where children are everywhere- you can just walk.

Obviously no amount of security was going to stop this guy.

An argument can be made that perhaps asking for an ID could have caused greater harm.

Or it could have given this animal pause to do his deed somewhere else...

But asking the question is not bashing the place.

No, the Y is not at fault, and no, the Y is no more dangerous today than it was two days ago, but still... it seems like there should be some safe places.

So his children won't have a Mother or Father now. That's sick.

I pray for our community, our children, our police, and especially for Monica's children and family.

To the person who posted and said they work at a women's shelter---May God help all of the women in the area who are victims find their way to you and others like you to find safe haven and get away from their attackers.

This story on top of the one about the assault at the library have me so upset I can hardly think straight. Wish there was something I could do to help the kids.

There is nothing the Y staff could have done to stop this. Remember the Watchung Post Office? Remember the woman on North Fullerton who killed her kids and then burned the apartment, with herself in it? More recently, what about the awful man who killed his girls and then hung himself? These are unsound minds, and it makes me very, very sad.

Meantime I hope the rumor that the shooter offed himself behind the library is untrue, because he and the 18 year old sex offender should be tied up on a street corner so the vultures pick at them for a long, long time.

My prayers go out to Monica, her two kids, and her family, as well as the bystanders who will also feel the effects of this. It is an absolute tragedy from all angles.

There is no Mayberry RFD, and there never was.

Mr Duckett: If by chance you read these...if you want respect, even a shot at redeeming yourself, then turn yourself in now. Any other way is the way of the coward.

Right, as if shooting an unarmed woman in front of her kids isn't "the way of the coward".