West Orange Man Injured in Newark Shooting

Authorities said a West Orange man was one of three injured in a shooting Thursday night in Newark that left a 21-year-old man dead.

The shooting occurred at the corner of South 18th Street and 14th Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. in the city's West Ward.

Essex County Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose confirmed that Al-Tariq Harris, 21, of Newark, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The name of the West Orange man and the other two Newark men injured were not released, but Ambrose said the three men range in age from 19 to 22. He said they were transported to University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Ambrose said police are investigating whether the shooting is connected to Monday night's shooting on Scheerer Avenue in the city's South Ward, which killed a 15-year-old boy and left seven injured.

Officials said the shooter was last seen fleeing the scene in a dark-colored station wagon with "smoked" windows. Ambrose said the car was last spotted heading north on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

At the scene, a body could be seen lying under a white tarp in front of JNC Mini Market on the corner.

Thursday night's incident is the second fatality due to gun violence in Newark this week and occurred three days after a spate of shootings that killed one and injured 11 people. The earlier shootings, authorities said, were drug related.

The area around 14th Avenue was cordoned off and traffic was diverted as Newark police officers and investigators from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office combed the scene.

Juan Molina said he lives about a block away and was outside with his friend's daughter who was watering the lawn when he saw an African-American man in his 20s run past him dripping blood from his left shoulder.

"I got the little girl inside," he said in Spanish. Molina, who was shaken up, said of the shooters, "They have no conscience."

Another area resident, who declined to give her name, said in Spanish that she heard the shots being fired and fears for the safety of her two children, "I thought it was fireworks, but my son wouldn't let me out to see. Lately, a lot of this is happening. Every time there's a dead body."

Newark Councilman Ronald C. Rice, who represents the West Ward, was at the scene Thursday. He said Newark Mayor Cory Booker must address the violence by sitting down with community groups, such as the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition.

"We need to figure out how to squash this problem," he said. "If there's something going on with the (drug/gang) sets, then we need to bring them together ... (and) get on top of this. I don't know what the answer is, but we better find it soon."

, injuring eight people, including 15-year-old Al-Aziz Stewart, who later died at University Hospital.

The other seven — four men and three women — suffered non-life-threatening injures and were treated at University Hospital. Authorities would not release their names, but said their ages ranged from 17 to 32.

Four hours earlier on Monday, a drive-by shooting at the corner of Halsey Street and Branford Place around 6 p.m., sent three men and one woman to University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Newark Detective Hubert Henderson. Their names and ages were not released.

Acting Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said in a statement Thursday night that "the small group of individuals" allegedly responsible for the shootings will be brought to "swift justice."

Booker, who referred to Monday's shootings as "targeted attacks," said the incidents are connected to several other shootings that appear to be part of an ongoing drug dispute in the city. The mayor said some of those shot Monday had criminal histories, but he wouldn't elaborate.

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