Video: Off-duty US police officer shot and killed his ex-wife in front of their kids

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(Reuters) - An off-duty police sergeant shot and killed his ex-wife in New Jersey on Tuesday after chasing her down as she drove a car with their 7-year-old daughter inside, authorities said.

Driving an SUV, Phillip Seidle, 51, was pursuing his recently divorced wife, Tamara Seidle, in her car when she crashed into another vehicle in Asbury Park, New Jersey, said Charles Webster, spokesman of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Seidle, a 22-year veteran of New Jersey's Neptune Township Police Department, got out with his service weapon, a .40-caliber Glock handgun, and fired several shots into his ex-wife's car from the driver's side, Webster said.

He then made his way to the front of the car and fired more shots at her through the windshield, Webster said.

Seidle surrendered to police some 20 minutes after they arrived at the scene, where he aimed the weapon at himself several times but did not pull the trigger, Webster said.

Tamara Seidle, also 51, was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead. The couple's daughter was riding with her in the vehicle at the time of the shooting but was not injured, Webster said.

The couple shared nine children ranging in age from 7 to 24 and they lived in Neptune, authorities said.

Seidle was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Asbury Park is a popular resort town on the Jersey Shore with about 15,000 residents.

(Reporting by Sebastien Malo in New York, Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Mohammad Zargham)