Ocean County Father Charged With Accidentally Shooting His Daughter

Sunday, May 25, 2025, 2:15 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

MANAHAWKIN, NJ.- On Saturday, a 47-year-old Manahawkin, New Jersey, man was taken into custody and charged in connection with accidentally shooting his 13-year-old daughter while cleaning in gun earlier in the day inside their Stafford Township home.

     According to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, on Saturday, May 24, 2025, shortly around 2:00 p.m., members of the Stafford Township Police Department responded to Southern Ocean Medical Center in the Township after receiving a 911 Emergency call reporting that a 13-year-old girl had arrived at the Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the right side of her body.

     During the ensuing investigation, Detectives of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit and the Stafford Police Department, with assistance from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, determined that Edgar Baerga, 47, the father of the teen girl, was cleaning his firearm inside their home when the gun discharged a round striking his daughter in the side.

Baerga Was Charged Following Investigation

     Baerga then drove his daughter to Southern Ocean Medical Center before contacting the Police. Following being stabilized, the girl was thereafter transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey, where she remains hospitalized and listed in stable condition.

     Following the investigation, on Saturday, May 24, 2025, Baerga was taken into custody and charged with Aggravated Assault; and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Baerga was possessed on the charges and was released on a summons complaint, pending future court proceedings in Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River, New Jersey.

“The rules of the court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”