By
The Associated Press
ELIZABETH, N.J. - A man who claimed to be armed when he charged at police officers who shot and killed him was carrying a Bible, not a weapon, authorities said.
Investigators were trying to determine whether Mark Venuti, 36, tried to provoke police into using deadly force, prosecutor Richard Rodbarts said.
Officers responding to a dispute between neighbors at an apartment complex Saturday night were met by Venuti holding a dark object above his head, police said. A neighbor said Venuti told officers that he was armed.
One officer shot him in the stomach. Venuti then charged toward another officer, demanding to be shot again, police said.
Venuti died at a hospital early Sunday.
No weapon was found at the scene, and police later discovered that the dark object Venuti was holding was a Bible.
Venuti's wife, April, said her husband suffered from depression and recently had tried to hang himself. But she questioned the need for deadly force.
"When he came out, he had a Bible in his hand, and a Bible doesn't look like a gun," she said.
