What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Michael John Elekes died on November 18, 2012 in Franklin, Sussex County, with "Gunshot" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.

Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?

The record's agency field reads "Franklin Borough Police Department". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.

Where did this happen?

The record places the death in Franklin, Sussex County, on November 18, 2012. The address as recorded is 30 Auche Dr. Franklin NJ 07416 Sussex.

Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?

No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Fatal Encounters record · Independent third-party dataset

Michael John Elekes

November 18, 2012 · Franklin, Sussex County

Details as recorded

Every value below is shown exactly as Fatal Encounters recorded it.^[1]

Name as recorded: Michael John Elekes
Age as recorded: 53
Gender as recorded: Male
Race as reported: Race unspecified
Date of the injury resulting in death: November 18, 2012
Location as recorded: Franklin, Sussex County30 Auche Dr. Franklin NJ 07416 Sussex
Highest level of force as recorded: Gunshot

Agencies as recorded

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: Franklin Borough Police Department

An agency appears here because it appears in the record's as-reported agency field, nothing more. Its presence is not a claim of fault or responsibility.

Department pages (matched by this site at high confidence)

Franklin Borough Police Department

The source's account

Fatal Encounters' description of the incident, verbatim. This is the source project's own third-party narrative, not this site's reporting.

Franklin Borough police responded to a 911 call around 8:15 p.m., from a woman who said her 53-year-old son was threatening her with a shotgun in their house. When police arrived at the ranch-style home, the caller, Anne Elekes, ran outside and was shot and wounded by her son, Michael, as she tried to flee, police said. A hostage negotiator was able to talk Michael Elekes into releasing his father, James Elekes Sr. At about 4 a.m., police rushed into the house, and found Michael Elekes dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: http://www.nj.com/sussex-county/index.ssf/2012/11/multiple_law_enforcement_agencies_respond_to_standoff_in_quiet_sussex_county_town.html (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

If you are a family member of the person named here, or represent one, and something in this record is wrong, or you want the record removed, requests go through the corrections page. Every request is checked against the source record.

This record is one of the dataset's New Jersey entries from 2000 to 2021. Browse every New Jersey Fatal Encounters record by year.

Questions and answers

What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?: Fatal Encounters records that Michael John Elekes died on November 18, 2012 in Franklin, Sussex County, with "Gunshot" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.
Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?: The record's agency field reads "Franklin Borough Police Department". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.
Where did this happen?: The record places the death in Franklin, Sussex County, on November 18, 2012. The address as recorded is 30 Auche Dr. Franklin NJ 07416 Sussex.
Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?: No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

Sources

[1]Fatal Encounters, New Jersey subset. Fatal Encounters (fatalencounters.org). Row 16431. Derived from the public Fatal Encounters national dataset (coverage 2000-2021; collection ended December 2021), https://fatalencounters.org/. Retrieved July 10, 2026. ↩