TRENTON — Authorities have identified the Lacey woman who died after authorities said she was shot by a township police officer during a 911 call to her home early Monday morning.

Susanne Clarke, 55, of the Lanoka Harbor section, was killed during an encounter with Lacey Township Police Officer Dallas Gant outside the house on Hemlock Drive in the Lanoka Harbor section, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

The initial findings indicate that officers were dispatched to the residence, which is near the intersection of Birch Road, shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday, March 16 following a 911 call for a “medical event.”

About 2:44 a.m., Gant fired his service weapon, striking Clarke. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:24 a.m.

A knife was recovered outside the home. The statement did not say whether the woman was brandishing or wielding it.

An obituary for Clarke from the Rezem Funeral Home in East Brunswick described her as a loving mother of two children, a devoted daughter and cherished friend with a passion for animals. She had been working on starting her own dog treat business had just passed an exam to become a licensed optician.

The obituary said she had been born in New Brunswick and spent many years in Chesterfield where she raised her children. She had recently moved to Lacey to enjoy life closer to the beach, the death notice said.

One officer was treated during the incident for injuries that were not life-threatening at a local hospital, authorities said. Several officers who were also on the scene were not injured, according to the Lacey Township Police Department.

The state Attorney General’s Office investigates all deaths that occur during encounters with law enforcement or while they are in custody. These cases must be presented to a grand jury.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

1-minute read

Shipping disruptions could be coming to the ports of New York and New Jersey amid the Iran war and attacks around the Strait of Hormuz.

One container ship that called on the Port of New York and New Jersey in January, One Majesty, sailing under the flag of Japan, was attacked in the Persian Gulf last week.

“Thankfully nobody on board was injured and that ship is now underway again,” said Bethann Rooney, port director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “There was a relatively small — centimeters — hit from a drone launched device.”

Story continues below photo gallery

The cargo ship left the United Arab Emirates on March 13 and is headed next to Mundra, India, according to the website Vesser Finder.

Rooney said so far there’s been very little impact to New York and New Jersey’s facilities, but some ships are being rerouted.

Opinion: Is Iran a moment for Democrats? NJ leaders offer choices

“We have just two services that do call ports in that area and they’ve obviously been diverted from that space,” Rooney said.

“Any ships that were going through the Red Sea are no longer doing that,” Rooney said. “We’re back to doing the circle around the Cape of Good Hope, adding about two weeks of travel time to the overall voyage.”

In 2023, ships bound for New York and New Jersey rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope after the Suez Canal was attacked by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who supported Hamas amid the Israel-Gaza war.