FREEHOLD — The director of the borough’s public library was fired Wednesday night for what the Board of Trustees alleged was her failure to address employee safety and security concerns before and after a shooting at the facility on April 30.
Kathy Mulholland had served as the director for about two decades when the board voted 5-1 to begin the civil service process to terminate her employment with the borough. Although personnel matters are generally confidential, Mulholland had requested an open public meeting to discuss her future. She did not address the board during its deliberations.
Kathy Mulholland, Directory of the Freehold Public Library located at 28½ East Main Street. The library has officially reopened after the April 30 shooting that occurred on its premises. Monday, June 29, 2026.
The termination vote followed a municipal investigation into working conditions that included interviews with almost all of her staff. Employees were nearly unanimous in their assertion that the library was an unsafe work environment well before the shooting. The report revealed that a baseball bat was stored inside the building for potential altercations with the public, and one employee even kept a crowbar in their desk for the same purpose.
Board members cited reports of individuals wandering into the building under the influence of drugs or alcohol, as well as instances of patrons accessing pornography on public computer terminals.
Related: Freehold library shooting: Witness describes chaotic scene
Employees who raised concerns about security and safety to the director either had their complaints suppressed or ignored, said Mayor Kevin A. Kane, whose office grants him a seat on the board and who voted in favor of Mulholland’s termination.
He recounted an incident where two men were found smoking marijuana at the library; when told to stop, the men replied that they did it all the time.
More: Patrons hiding, children in danger at Freehold library shooting – cops
“I think this board, this trustee board, has to take action tonight to move towards termination,” Kane said. “There’s no other way around this. For the last three months, again, three months since April 30 … and there’s still resistance about safety protocols and things we need to do.”
Patrons of the library on East Main Street were forced into hiding around 4:21 p.m. on April 30 when a gunman chased his target into the building and shot him in the face in the presence of children, according to court documents.
Borough police immediately responded to the library, entering through the back door. They found a man near the front entrance bleeding from the head. The victim, identified as J.S. in court documents, suffered a gunshot wound to his left cheek. He was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was placed into a medically induced coma before doctors at the regional trauma center stabilized his condition.
Kanye P. Faucette, 19, of Keansburg, was arrested five days later by the U.S. Marshals Service. He is charged with attempted murder, unlawful possession of a handgun, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Another man, Heaven D. Holmes, 20, of Keyport, was arrested on the day of the shooting and charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. Holmes, who police say was acquainted with the victim, possessed the gun used in the shooting and was with Faucette when he pursued the victim into the library, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Trustee Zahra Clarke, who was the lone dissenting vote against Mulholland’s firing, argued that the director was being used as a scapegoat and that the Board of Trustees had ultimately failed in its oversight.
If the board was going to get rid of the director, perhaps the entire board should be replaced too, Clarke argued.
Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Freehold Library director fired over safety failures post-shooting
