Burlington corrections officer charged with murder ordered to stay behind bars

MOUNT HOLLY — The Burlington County Corrections officer who shot and killed a nurse inside a Mount Laurel doctor’s office last month will stay behind bars as he awaits his next court date.

Bruce Gomola Jr., charged with the murder of Stephanie Horton on July 24, was ordered to remain in jail Thursday in Burlington County Superior Court.

Superior Court Judge Mark Tarantino ruled Gomola stay behind bars because he is a “danger to the community.”

“These were unpredictable, volatile, deadly actions with little provocation or reason and could re-occur,” Tarantino said in his decision.

Gomola, dressed in a blue jumpsuit and wearing eye glasses, appeared via video from Camden County Jail. He was represented by attorney Mark Catanzaro.

Catanzaro argued for Gomola’s release due to his non-existent criminal history, record of public service and family support. Catanzaro said Gomola’s brother had gone to his Burlington Township home to clear it of any weapons.

According to Catanzaro, Gomola’s brother removed two locked Sig Sauer gun cases, as well as ammunition, a collapsible baton and pepper spray.

Assistant Burlington County Prosecutor Jaime Hutchinson acknowledged Gomola’s clean record, but argued his actions pose a threat to society.

“Yes he was an upstanding citizen,” Hutchinson said. “Until he chose to murder someone ... this was a complete stranger, and if he can do this to a complete stranger whose to say he won’t do this to a family member?”

Gomola shot and killed Horton, 44, of Willingboro after he became angry while trying to get an appointment for his father at the Delaware Valley Urology office along Midatlantic Drive.

Court records state that Gomola and Horton got into an argument at a COVID-19 screening station outside of the doctor’s office, which escalated into Gomola pushing Horton, pulling out his handgun, and firing one shot into her chest.

The bullet would travel through Horton and hit a patient at the office, Bonnie Liebe, of Riverside, in the knee. A GoFundMe fundraiser has been started to help with her recovery.

Gomola then picked up the spent bullet shell and fled the scene. He would later return to the scene and turn himself into police, only at the urging of his father, according to Hutchinson.

“This was cold-blooded murder,” Hutchinson said.

“This was a man who made the decision to pull out a gun in a clinic in the middle of the day. He knew what shooting someone would do,” being a corrections officer trained in the use of firearms, the assistant prosecutor said.

Gomola has been a corrections officer at the Burlington County Jail since 2008, and has also served as a volunteer firefighter, according to his attorney.

He is currently suspended without pay pending a disciplinary hearing, county officials said Thursday.

His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 23.