ABC7 Eyewitness News reporter Sonia Rincón described it as a “bizarre and deadly chain of events” in Kearny, New Jersey, the kind of story that makes neighbors step outside at odd hours just to confirm what they’re seeing is real.
Police say a man behind a fatal bow-and-arrow attack later barricaded himself in a home on Kearny Avenue, set fires, and triggered an hours-long standoff before surrendering.
On FOX 5 New York, reporters Dan Bowens and Hayley Fixler said the circumstances are what make this case so unsettling, because one man was killed, another ended up in custody, and the weapon at the center of it all was not a gun but a bow and arrow.
Fixler told Bowens it was tragic no matter what, but the details are “bizarre,” and that strangeness only grew as the standoff unfolded overnight.
CBS New York reporter Nick Caloway added that officials believe it appears to have been a random act of violence, which is the kind of phrase that doesn’t comfort anyone. If it’s random, it means it could have happened to almost anyone walking down that block on a normal evening.
Flames At Dawn And A Neighborhood Forced To Evacuate
Rincón reported that many neighbors first realized something was terribly wrong when flames shot out of a home at 20 Kearny Avenue early in the morning. The fire, the smoke, and the sudden rush of sirens turned a residential block into an emergency zone, with Kearny Avenue shut down amid what she called chaos.
A neighbor, Ana Cristina Pacheco, told Rincón that it was around 5 a.m. when the fire started and SWAT ordered people out. Her words were simple and urgent, the kind you can hear even through the noise: SWAT was there, and residents were being told to leave.
Rincón said the Hudson County SWAT team was already on scene, and neighbors captured video of officers with guns drawn, aimed toward the house, while firefighters worked the flames. This wasn’t just a fire response; it was an active negotiation with a person of interest barricaded inside.
By the time daylight arrived, the scene had the grim look of something unresolved. Even after the suspect was taken away, Rincón reported that smoke still rose from the building, and officials believed the suspect started a second, smaller fire while police were still trying to bring the standoff to an end.
In moments like this, it’s hard not to think about how quickly “normal” can be erased. A single block can go from a quiet place where people walk to work and stop at local shops to a perimeter full of tape, armored units, and evacuees clutching coats and keys.
The Arrow Attack That Started It All
Rincón said the deadly assault happened around 6 p.m. Saturday, on the same block, when a man collapsed in front of a business with an arrow in his back. Neighbors told her they saw police activity build throughout the evening as investigators worked to understand what had happened and who they were looking for.
A neighbor, Anthony Collantes, told Rincón he saw police show up around “7 or 8 o’clock,” then later, around midnight, he noticed SWAT presence growing. His recollection matched the broader timeline: an early evening attack, followed by a late-night tightening of the response once authorities focused on a specific home.
FOX 5’s Hayley Fixler told Dan Bowens that police found an injured man near a hair salon on Kearny Avenue around 6 p.m. Saturday, and that he was apparently shot with a bow and arrow. Fixler said police then tracked the suspect to a nearby house on Kearny Avenue, close to where the victim was found.
Fixler explained the situation as two connected events that blurred together: the bow-and-arrow attack, and then the standoff that followed at the house where the suspect was believed to be hiding.
She also admitted there were still gaps in what was known – whether police were first alerted by the attack or by the fire wasn’t fully clear in her telling, only that the suspect was ultimately linked back to the home.
One witness interviewed by FOX 5 described hearing officers pleading through an intercom for the suspect to come out, and said the standoff lasted for hours. The witness recalled that around “5ish” in the morning, when police tried to force entry with a battering ram, the suspect set the house on fire.
That detail makes the entire event feel like it had multiple danger points stacked together – first the lethal attack, then the barricade, then the fire, and all of it happening while neighbors were trying to sleep, wake up, and figure out whether they needed to run.
A Family’s Grief, And A Wife Demanding Justice
CBS New York’s Nick Caloway reported that the family of the victim spoke with CBS News New York after the killing, and he described “cries of grief and agony” pouring out onto Kearny Avenue. He identified the victim as 45-year-old Pablo Criollo, and said his wife and family were left heartbroken.
Caloway said Criollo’s wife spoke in Spanish about how happy her husband was that day, explaining he was walking because he thought he could get home faster than taking the bus. She told Caloway the next day was payday, and her husband planned to buy a table to put out Christmas decorations.
That small detail – the table for decorations – lands harder than most crime-scene descriptions because it’s ordinary life, mid-step, and then suddenly gone. It’s the kind of planning everyone does without thinking, until a family is forced to repeat it out loud as proof that the victim was simply living, not looking for trouble.
Caloway also reported that surveillance video shows Criollo walking down Kearny Avenue Saturday night, his final moments alive, before he was fatally struck by an arrow. He said Criollo collapsed just steps away and was pronounced dead at University Hospital in Newark.
FOX 5’s coverage echoed the family angle in a different way, with Fixler mentioning a GoFundMe set up for the victim’s family and saying it was gaining traction.
Fixler shared details from the page identifying the victim as Pablo Criollo, describing him as a family provider and the father of a young child, with relatives pleading for justice while also worrying about bills.
In Caloway’s report, Criollo’s wife was direct about what she wanted: justice for the killer, because, as she put it, he destroyed their lives. In cases like this, “justice” isn’t a slogan—it’s the only word that fits when the person who held a family together is suddenly missing from the next morning.
The Arrest, The Suspect’s Identity, And The Questions Still Hanging
Caloway reported that police say the arrow was fired from a weapon at a home on Kearny Avenue, and that the man who lived there – 44-year-old Oscar Feijoo – barricaded himself inside when SWAT arrived. Caloway said police believe Feijoo set multiple fires during the standoff, and later that Sunday afternoon, police made entry and took him into custody.
Rincón reported that after more than 12 hours, officers led a suspect out in handcuffs on Sunday afternoon, with smoke still visible. She said officials believed the suspect was armed with knives when arrested, and she noted there was still no clear indication why the man would fire an arrow at the victim.
FOX 5’s Fixler likewise said the suspect was armed with knives when taken into custody, and she emphasized how many unanswered questions remained, including how, or whether, the suspect and victim knew each other. She floated possibilities—an argument, a domestic situation – while making clear there was no confirmed motive yet.
Neighbors in ABC7’s report captured the emotional confusion that often follows a rare kind of violence. One resident, Mani Dacire, told Rincón, “I’m still in shock,” while also praising the police response and saying officers helped residents significantly during the evacuation.
Another neighbor, Renata Rivas, told Rincón the choice to fire an arrow was clearly deliberate, then added her hope that the family finds peace, while speculating the suspect may have been mentally disturbed. Pacheco, who lived nearby, said the suspect “looked like a normal person,” but added the grim truth: “you never know.”
Caloway included longtime neighbor observations that Feijoo was something of a recluse, someone who kept to himself and rarely came outside, which only deepens the mystery. When a suspect is described that way, it can make a neighborhood replay old memories, looking for signs that were never obvious at the time.
As for accountability, Caloway reported that Feijoo is charged with murder and arson, while Rincón said the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office is expected to handle the homicide, fire, and standoff investigation, with charges pending. The names and charges became clearer as the reporting progressed, but the “why” remains the hardest part, and it’s the piece families and neighbors often wait on the longest.
The weapon choice is still the part that stops people cold. A bow-and-arrow killing feels out of time, almost impossible, until you realize the victim is just as dead and the family grief is just as raw, no matter how unusual the method sounds on a headline.
That’s why this case has grabbed so much attention – because it mixes the shock of the strange with the heartbreak of the ordinary, and it leaves a community staring at a burned home and wondering how one evening turned into a nightmare.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
