Man Shot And Killed During Outdoor Beach Concert In Long Branch Thursday

LONG BRANCH, NJ — A man was shot to death Thursday night on the beach at Pier Village in Long Branch, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said in an update Friday afternoon.

Police were called to the Chelsea Avenue beach at 8:58 p.m. for 911 calls of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers discovered the body of an adult man with a single gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has been revealed by the county prosecutor as Chrystofer A. Whyte, 18, of North Brunswick.

This Facebook post shows EMTs and police attending to the man lying on the sand. Police say the shooting was an isolated incident.

The sharp, staccato sound of gunshots broke out at the tail end of an outdoor concert put on by the city, Long Branch's "Thursdays by the Sea" concert series, a summertime tradition. The beach and boardwalk were very crowded at the time, said Tim McLoone, a well-known Monmouth County restaurant owner who just happened to be playing the first concert of the summer that night with his band, something they've done for the past 20 years.

(His restaurant, McLoone's Pier House, is located very close by.)

"We were playing right on the boardwalk by the gazebo, with our backs to the ocean. There were a lot of people there last night — I'd say 250 in front of us on the boardwalk and maybe 300 behind us on the beach," he said. "We started at 7 and we were supposed to play 'till 8:30 but we went a little over. We were packing up to leave when we heard two loud bangs. I thought it was fireworks because it was so loud. And then people just started running from the beach up onto the boardwalk and screaming 'there's a gun!'"

McLoone said police who were already on the scene for the concert "just started telling everyone to leave, get out of there. They told people to just leave their belongings on the beach and get out, to not go back. Everyone was just trying to get the heck out of there."

"We play Beach Boys, Sly and the Family Stone. We attract an older crowd," he said. "But the crowd last night was all different ages. This is really an aberration. Long Branch is not like Seaside, which has packs, gangs of teenage kids. Long Branch is a sleepy town by comparison."

But Long Branch was the location for a series of pop-up parties in the summers of 2022 and 2023. The first pop-up party, held over Memorial Day weekend 2022, attracted thousands of teenagers and young people to Long Branch. Street fights broke out, people danced on top of police cars and the windows of some local shops were smashed. In 2023, the city of Long Branch sued six men who were advertising the pop-up parties on social media, and the city was successful in getting a judge to tell the men to stop posting.

“I sincerely regret the loss of life that occurred last night on Chelsea Beach," said Long Branch Mayor John Pallone on Friday. "I want to extend my sincere gratitude to the Long Branch Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office for their swift and effective response. I would also like to inform the public that the city has reopened the roadway, boardwalk and beach. These areas are once again accessible and fully staffed with our regular team of beach security and lifeguards."

Police ask that anyone who may have been on the beach, or in the vicinity at the time, and has firsthand video footage of the incident on their phones or electronic devices, to please come forward. Police are aware of videos posted to local social media platforms. They are not looking for links to videos from others. Anyone with relevant video footage of the incident can upload that video at:

https://monmouthcountyponj.evi...

Anyone who may have information regarding this incident is urged to contact MCPO Detective Thomas Manzo at 800-533-7443 or Long Branch Police Detective Joseph Spitale at 732-222-1000 Ext 1339.