'I thought we were friends': Millstone shooting victim tells state troopers before dying
MILLSTONE - A Millstone man has been charged with murder in the shooting of an acquaintance in the township on July 10.
David A. Bulk, 71, was first arrested on a charge of attempted murder following the shooting at his home at Woodville Road and Appaloosa Drive that left Gerard Carpinello, 49, of Portland, Pennsylvania, mortally wounded.
Carpinello died on Friday, acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said Tuesday.
State troopers went to the scene shortly after 3:15 a.m. July 10 after Carpinello called, telling dispatchers he was shot twice in the stomach, according to an affidavit of probable cause. A trooper saw the wounded man lying in a pool of blood next to a cellphone and Bulk sitting in a recliner in the home's living room with a revolver, set in the cocked position, on an end table next to him, the affidavit said.
Carpinello told the troopers, "I thought we were friends and he started shooting me," according to the affidavit. "That f***ing a**hole shot me."
Medics rushed him to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
Bulk, taken into custody, told investigators he was "highly intoxicated and did not remember anything from the night prior," and that he usually kept his revolver underneath the end table next to the recliner, according to the affidavit.
Bulk told investigators that Carpinello was a longtime acquaintance and was staying the night following a visit by both men to Bulk's brother's home.
Carpinello clung to life for nearly three weeks at the medical center.
Following a detention hearing on the attempted murder charge, Bulk was released with conditions. After he was charged with murder Monday morning, county detectives, state troopers and members of the U.S. Marshal's Service arrested him without a struggle.
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Bulk also faces a weapons offense.
Bulk's attorneys, Thomas V. Campo of Toms River and Tara Breslow-Testa of Freehold, declined comment.
Carpinello leaves behind a wife of 20 years and two daughters for whom he was a stay-at-home father when they were young, according to his obituary.
He was a 1990 graduate of what was then called Monsignor Donovan High School (now Donovan Catholic) in Toms River and attended Castleton State College in Vermont.
Carpinello worked as a security guard for the Bangor School District and at Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center, both in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania.
He was close to completing the work needed to become a massage therapist, according to his obituary.
Linskey is urging anyone with any information about the crime to call Detective Brian Migliorisi of the Prosecutor's Office at 800-533-7443 or State Trooper Keith Ashley at 609-584-5000.
Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news, local issues and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or kserrano@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: 'I thought we were friends': Shooting victim tells cops before dying
