Injured officer released from hospital

Sgt. James Garber, the officer most seriously wounded during a shoot-out at the Gloucester Township Police Department headquarters Friday morning, is being released from the hospital today.

He is expected to arrive home from Cooper University Hospital in Camden shortly after 3 p.m., police said, where he will be welcomed by an array of first responders, including police, firefighters, and paramedics. Also present will be members of the Warrior Watch organization and Boy Scout Troop 811.

Garber, a 13-year veteran of the force, suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach and was grazed in the head about 5:30 a.m. Friday when Eddie Jones 3d, 39, of Willingboro, overpowered Officer Ruth Burns, grabbed her handgun, and started firing. Burns had been processing Jones in connection with a domestic violence incident when he over attacked her.

Burns, who was shot in the foot, and Sgt. Kevin Thyne, who was grazed in the chin by a bullet and also suffered a stomach laceration when a bullet struck his duty belt, were treated at Cooper and released Friday. Jones was killed at the police station as Thyne and Garber returned fire.

Garber was shot several times, Police Chief Harry Earle said Friday. His bulletproof vest stopped a bullet to his chest area, Earle said.