Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik died by his own hand on Tuesday in Clifton, in what the Garden State’s attorney general called “an unfathomable loss for New Jersey.”
Emergency responders rushed to Toro’s Turkish Restaurant on Hazel Street a few minutes after 3:30 p.m. Jan. 23.
Berdnik had just taken his life in the men’s room, the sudden gunshot startling staff and patrons alike, sources told Daily Voice.
Just moments earlier the popular sheriff had posed for photographs, those who were there said.
The area was locked down as city police and their colleagues from the sheriff’s office and neighboring Paterson converged on the neighborhood. Many of them formed a thick blue line outside the restaurant from one side of the street to the other.
Law enforcement officers of all stripes from both Passaic and Bergen counties said they couldn’t imagine why Berdnik, only 64 years old, and with new grandchildren, would do such a thing.
Each of dozens of people who immediately reached out to Daily Voice upon hearing the tragic news talked of how dedicated Berdnik was to the community at large. They also mentioned his kindness — especially to those in need.