A manhunt is underway for a potential suspect or suspects in the mass shooting that killed a 10-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman and wounded three, including another child, in New Jersey’s largest city over the weekend.
Essex County prosecutors are expected to release additional information Monday in the Saturday night shooting in Newark’s South Ward. Police officers were called to the 300 block of Chancellor Avenue at around 7 p.m. Among the dead were three injured: an 11-year-old boy, a 19-year-old man, and a 60-year-old man.
None of the victims’ names was released. The superintendent of Newark schools confirmed the dead child was a student in the system, as was the 11-year-old injured.
“We mourn the loss of one of our students and the woman who was killed, and we continue to pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, which includes another one of our students,” Newark Schools Superintendent Roger Leon said in a statement.
A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered in the case.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called the violence “depraved and senseless” in a statement late Saturday.
“There is no explanation on Earth that could come close to justifying this shooting,” said Baraka. “Coming in the midst of the city’s historic reduction in violence, this is a vivid reminder that there is so much more work we must do. No one is exempt from doing their part to help and heal one another.”
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Newark Police investigate a shooting in the city’s South Ward Saturday Nov. 15.
Data from the Newark Public Safety Collaborative shows that violent crime is down this year. Homicides dipped by 22%. Aggravated assaults are down by 15% and robberies fell by 37%, between Jan. 1 and Oct. 26.
“My entire department is at the hospital,” Lamont Vaughn of Newark’s Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery told NBC New York. He is calling on parents of teenagers to get involved in the fight against gun violence. “Don’t wait for it to hit your doorstep. Let’s be proactive instead of reactive.”
Gov. Phil Murphy, writing about the mass shooting on X, asked people to “Please pray for the victims and their families.”
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Tips Line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432. All calls will remain confidential.