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At about 5:30 p.m. on January 5, 2026, Piscataway police received two 911 calls from a residence in Piscataway, New Jersey. The first call captured a woman yelling "Stop! Stop!" with other yelling and commotion. That call came from the cellphone of Jeanmarie Barnes, a relative of Jordan Barnes who was later found dead inside the home. A second relative called 911 and reported that Jordan Barnes, 29, was threatening to stab people inside the residence.

The first Piscataway officer arrived at about 5:33 p.m. and saw Barnes on the front porch. As the officer approached, Barnes picked up a knife from the ground, went inside, and locked the front door. The 911 caller was in the driveway and told the officer that three other people were inside with Barnes. Barnes then appeared in a second-story window, made a gesture to his neck, and yelled that officers were not getting inside the house.

Several officers gathered on the porch. While one officer tried to speak with Barnes through the closed front door, Officer John Ward looked through the sidelight and saw two people lying unresponsive on the floor. Officers used a key provided by the relative to enter the house.

When officers opened the door, Barnes was holding a kitchen knife in his left hand. Officers ordered him to drop the knife and get on the ground. Barnes did not comply and advanced toward them. Three officers fired tasers with no effect. Officer Ward then fired his service weapon, striking Barnes.

Officers gave medical aid and cleared the home for emergency personnel. Barnes was pronounced dead at the scene. A large kitchen knife that Barnes had been holding was recovered from the front porch, and a second broken knife was recovered from the immediate threshold of the entrance.

After the shooting, police found Jeanmarie Barnes, 60, Richard A. Barnes, 86, and Brenda F. Barnes, 84, dead inside the residence with multiple suspected stab wounds. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating their deaths.

Listen to the 911 calls and dispatch audio for this incident here.