Franklin Township, NJ — A shocking tragedy has rocked New Jersey after a state trooper — one of the men entrusted with guarding the rabidly anti-gun Governor Phil Murphy — killed his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend before turning the gun on himself.
According to the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, 33-year-old veterinarian Lauren Semanchik and 29-year-old firefighter Tyler Webb were found dead from gunshot wounds inside her Pittstown home on Saturday. Investigators quickly identified Semanchik’s ex-boyfriend, New Jersey State Police Lt. Ricardo Santos, 45, as the prime suspect. Hours later, Santos was discovered in his white Mercedes, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A semiautomatic handgun believed to be the murder weapon was found beside him.
Months of Stalking & Harassment, Likely While Armed…
Semanchik had ended her brief relationship with Santos in September 2024. Family members told CBS News that after the breakup, he began harassing and stalking her relentlessly — showing up at her workplace, slashing her tires, keying her car, and even tampering with her gas tank.
“She tried to block him many times and he continued to call her from restricted numbers,” her sister, Deanna, told reporters. “She was shot in the back. She gave so much of her life to other people and she deserved so much better.”
Her mother, Jeannine, said her daughter tried repeatedly to get protection from police but was ignored. “A lot of agencies failed her. She tried to get restraining orders. Nobody called her back,” she said.
Ignored Warning Signs
The night before the murders, a 911 caller reported gunshots and screaming in the area near Semanchik’s home. Police responded but could not locate the source. Hours later, Semanchik’s father discovered the bodies of his daughter and Webb.
Surveillance cameras that Semanchik had installed in her vehicle showed Santos following her from her veterinary clinic to her home on Friday evening. Footage also captured someone emerging from the woods near her driveway shortly after she arrived.
Victims Remembered
Semanchik was a highly respected veterinarian at Long Valley Animal Hospital, where colleagues described her as “one of the kindest souls you could ever encounter.” A GoFundMe page was launched in her memory to help cover funeral expenses and support charitable causes in her name.
Webb, a volunteer with the Pinewald Pioneer Fire Company, was remembered for his service and leadership. “He held the positions of Chief Engineer, Past Lieutenant, and Past Trustee during his time with the company,” the department posted on Facebook. “His contributions to our company and community will never be forgotten.”
The Bigger Picture
Santos wasn’t just any gun owner — he was part of the New Jersey governor’s elite armed protection detail. He was one of the “only ones” New Jersey allows to carry a firearm in places ordinary citizens cannot. Yet while ordinary taxpayers are disarmed by state law, one of Murphy’s own armed protectors used his badge and state-sanctioned privilege to stalk, harass, and eventually murder two innocent people.
Meanwhile, Semanchik — a woman begging for protection — was failed at every level. She was left unarmed and defenseless in one of the strictest anti-gun states in America, where law-abiding citizens are treated like criminals for wanting to defend themselves.
The tragedy underscores a bitter irony: the state grants special privileges to its “protected class” of government employees, while denying the same right of self-defense to ordinary men and women. And now, two lives are gone because the system trusted the wrong man with a gun — while stripping that right away from the victims.
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This tragedy should stand out as it touches every sickening base. But it’s buried or gets little coverage, since it involved a Dem governor.
Of course, their answer is “We need even MORE gun control because look what happens when we don’t have enough!” and the next part is to deliberately overlook the role “mental health” played when lethal violence is committed. So a guy who has passed all the tests and jumped through all the hoops to become a gun-owning elite law enforcement officer does this. It’s still the gun’s fault, right??
I hate the expression “turned the gun on [himself]”.
It suggests that the gun is sentient, or functioning automatically, and he just happened to point it at himself.
It’s infuriating to watch these leftists take shots at us and nothing ever happens back. Even snotty Lois Lerner stuck us then walked away with a strut!
The gun banning groups and far leftist Democrat always say ” only the police should have guns”.
Police always cover for each other.
Look at what happened to serpico.when he exposed crime and corruption, in the nuc police department, the police put a ” contract” out on him. He had to flee to Europe.
Article said some police now use Flock surveillance cameras to spy on ex girlfriend, ex wives, or even pretty women they have seen.
as a retired LEO I hang my head in shame if he had been harassing her and the new boyfriend some kind of action should have been taken. someone he worked with knew it and at the very least should have tried to get him to stop and failing that official action should have been taken way before this was allowed to happen. and I have no doubt this was allowed to happen even unintentionally. someone along the way could have stopped this even if it meant arresting him. so much for New Jerseys red flag law.
I worked law enforcement and security for years. All cops are people. SOME people have hot, hair trigger tempers. SOME Latins and Blacks seemed to have this problem more than others. On both sides of the badge. Statistics bear me out. This has happened in many states, both red and blue. I’m retired to a pretty red state and I know this has happened here too.
Welcome to communist New Jersey. Happens all the time. Murphys gestapo is untouchable.
They (government sanctioned protectors) can even be involved in political assassinations and never see justice.
Just think: if the victims had been armed and taken-out their attacker the State of New Jersey and their pet media would likely have branded them “cop killers” and put them away for life…