Two police officers were shot, one fatally, at around 6:30pm on Friday evening in Newark, New Jersey, in the area of Broadway and Carteret. According to sources who spoke to local outlets, the suspect is a juvenile, possibly as young as 14 years old, and was also injured in the shootout. Several other suspects were also taken into custody along with the alleged shooter. No details have been released yet by authorities on what led to the incident.
Witnesses reported hearing a barrage of shots, with Newark Police Department cars racing towards the scene shortly thereafter. One witness said that they saw officers running down the street shortly before the shots rang out. “They were chasing, but I don’t know if they were chasing somebody. I saw maybe four cops on the way down toward the street,” Randy Mejia told CBS News.
“This is a rapidly developing situation,” New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy posted on X. “Please pray for these officers, their families, and all our men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.”
Newark’s murder rate, as well as the state’s more broadly, has been on a consistently downward trend for many years running, with 2024’s decrease of 23% bringing it down to levels not since the 1940s. The stats also show a 12% decrease in non-fatal shootings. The overall crime rate does present a mixed picture, however, as aggravated assaults increased by 9% in the same year, half of which were reports of domestic violence.
