A Long Branch man convicted earlier this year of fatally shooting several of his family members in a New Year’s Eve massacre has been sentenced to 150 years in prison.
Scott Kologi, 20, was 16 years old at the time of the 2017 shooting. Authorities say that it was on New Year’s Even night when he shot multiple family members with a high-powered rifle inside their home. The victims were Kologi’s sister, 18-year-old Brittany Kologi; his mother, 44-year-old Linda Kologi; his father, 42-year-old Steven Kologi; and his grandfather’s companion, 70-year-old Mary Schulz, of Ocean Township.
“These were acts of evil, carried out by someone who knew exactly what he was doing,” Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor and Trial Director Sean Brennan said in a statement. “He killed them because he could. He killed them because he wanted to.”
Kologi’s brother and grandfather were home at the time of the attack but were able to escape.
Officials say that Kologi had previously researched if the weapon he used would be effective against police bulletproof vests and even wore earplugs to protect himself from the noise of the weapon.
Kologi must serve at least 85% of his sentence or 127 ½ years.