A 14 -year -old suspect was arrested for murder positions after a shooting with Newark, New Jersey, police officers on Friday night left by a dead and a second hospitalized, police officers said police county and Essex.
The two officers involved in the shooting were part of a team that investigated an illegal firearms report when shots were exchanged in the northern room of the city, in the Broadway and Cartret Street area, authorities said at a press conference on Saturday morning.
The witnesses said they heard a series of shots after seeing the officers running down the street in a commercial strip between a McDonald’s and White Castle Restaurants near the Passaic River.
The police and the officials of the Essex County prosecutor said that both the officers and the suspect teenager were injured in the altercation. The 14 -year -old was taken to the hospital to be treated by injuries that are not mortal, they said.
A five -year veteran of the police department, officer Joseph Azcona, was shot dead while still in his patrol. The 26 -year -old officer was declared dead at the hospital during the night.
“He didn’t even have the opportunity to leave the vehicle before being beaten,” said Emanuel Miranda, Newark Public Security Director. Azconona’s mother and brother were in the hospital to see him and cry after the shooting, Miranda said.
The second officer was injured and taken to the University Hospital, where he was also being treated for injuries that did not enhance life. The authorities had previously said that the officer was in a critical condition.
At least one weapon recovered from the teenager, said the official at the press conference. Four other people were also arrested and were interrogated by the police and county investigators.
The 14 -year -old faced murder positions, attempted murder and possession of illegal weapons.
The governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, said he had been “updated on an incident” that involved the officers in Newark, and urged people to “pray for these officers, their families and all our men and women in uniform who put their lives in the line to stay safe.”
The State Attorney General’s Office He said he was monitoring the situation also.
The mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, described the shooting as an “atrocious and insensitive contempt for humanity,” and said that the officers had gone to the scene knowing that “the serious danger was possible.”
The press conference officials gave some other details about what led the police to the group that triggered Azcona, the posterior police response or the shooting.
Baraka expressed his frustration that society has not discovered a way to prevent a 14 -year -old boy with a firearm shooting the police.
“We just have to do a better job. I have to do a better job. Our families have to do a better job. The community has to do a better job to make sure that our children do not handle weapons on the street, they shoot police officers, ”said Baraka. “This is not a police problem. This is our problem. This is our collective problem. “
