A man was arrested Sunday after a bizarre killing with a bow and arrow, an hourslong standoff and an early-morning fire that shut down a street in a New Jersey suburb.

The events began early Saturday evening when police officers in Kearny, New Jersey, just northeast of Newark, responded to a report of a wounded man near the intersection of Kearny and Johnston avenues. The man “appeared to have been struck by a pointed object and died as a result of his injuries,” according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, which later confirmed that he had been killed with a bow and arrow.

Wayne Mello, Hudson County’s acting prosecutor, said Monday that the victim was Pablo Criollo, 45, of neighboring Harrison, New Jersey. Criollo died from his wounds at a nearby hospital in Newark.

On Monday, Mello’s office charged Oscar Feijoo, 44, with murder, aggravated arson and several weapons-related violations. Feijoo did not reply to multiple requests for comment, and a lawyer representing him could not be identified.

Shortly after the police discovered Criollo’s body, they identified Feijoo as a “person of interest” in the killing and found him barricaded inside his own two-story home nearby on Kearny Avenue, the prosecutor’s office said. Residents were told to shelter in their homes, and a regional SWAT team arrived and negotiated with Feijoo overnight. Around 5 a.m. Sunday, while negotiations continued, a fire broke out in the house, forcing neighbors to evacuate.

By Sunday afternoon, the fire had been extinguished, but a fire truck was still parked on the street, which was teeming with police officers. Michael Hyde, deputy chief of the Kearny Fire Department, declined to answer questions about the fire or the department’s response.

The man, armed with knives, emerged from the house around 1 p.m., according to the prosecutor’s office. Wearing a red bandanna and a black jacket, he was taken into custody by officers and SWAT team members.

Circumstances Unclear

The circumstances of the killing remained unclear. Criollo’s partner, Paula Arnez, 50, said he was an immigrant from Ecuador who worked as a roofer to support the family, which includes their 6-year-old daughter. “Pablo was the best man in the world, and he worked endlessly to provide for us,” she said, speaking in Spanish as her daughter Alejandra Attanasio, 24, translated.

Arnez said that she and Criollo had planned to go out Sunday. “We were supposed to go Christmas shopping,” she said. “Now not anymore.”

Detectives told her that the man who was arrested lived in the home where he had barricaded himself and that he had set it on fire, she said, adding, “We want everyone to know that we want justice for Pablo.”

The Rev. Valdir Reis, the pastor of Closer to God Church on Kearny Avenue, who also lives on the street, said Sunday that an officer knocked on his door around 5:30 a.m. to tell him and his wife to leave their home.

Outside, squad cars and fire trucks lined their block, and neighbors were milling about. Reis said he got permission from the officers to bring about 40 people out of the cold and into his church.

Forced to cancel his Sunday services, he offered the displaced residents coffee and food. A local restaurant eventually brought over pizzas while residents waited for word that it was safe to return to their homes.

Other residents surveyed the scene of the fire with shock.

Beenish Qureshi, who owns a dollar store nearby in Harrison, said she used to live a few doors down from the house where the standoff occurred.

“I’m so upset,” Qureshi, 45, said. “I don’t know what’s going on. This is a very good town, but now I’m scared.”

Walter Spiess, 73, a retired steelworker and postal worker from Harrison, was surprised by the dramatic events close to his home.

“It’s a crazy world. A bow and arrow?” he said, adding: “At least they got him.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Benjamin Oreskes/Dakota Santiago
c. 2025 The New York Times Company