N.J. Officer Slain; Standoff Ensues With Suspect

A gunman opened fire Thursday on two police officers and a prosecutor’s investigator as they tried to force their way into his home to search for weapons. At least one officer was killed, authorities said.

Witnesses said as many as 100 shots were fired when the three men tried to force their way into the house. The suspect barricaded himself inside as dozens of officers surrounded the house.

Authorities were talking by phone to the alleged gunman, identified by police as Glenn Nelson, who lives in the house in this Philadelphia suburb. Nelson has undergone sex-change surgery and also goes by the name Leslie, Trovato said.

Two officers had gone to the house earlier Thursday to investigate a report that a 3-year-old child who lived there had been sexually abused, said Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Audino.

They noticed at least one semiautomatic handgun and a shotgun in the house, and later determined that Nelson had a prior arrest record for illegal weapons possession, officials said.