By: Richard L. Smith
Thanksgiving day in Newark, with a series of overnight and early morning shootings that have left detectives working to piece together motives and track down suspects across multiple locations.
In the first incident, gunfire erupted around 8 p.m. near Broad Street and Clay Street. Responding officers, alerted by a ShotSpotter device, found shell casings at the scene.
After a thorough search of the area, no victims were located. The suspect fled before police arrived and remains at large.
Later in the evening, another ShotSpotter alert directed officers to 37 Cedar Avenue around 11:20 p.m. in the West Ward, where they discovered a person suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot graze wound to the head.
The victim was transported to University Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Witnesses reported seeing a potential suspect fleeing the area immediately after the shooting, but no arrests have been made.
In the North Ward, a ShotSpotter activation at approximately 1:30 a.m. led police to the 100 block of Highland Avenue.
Officers discovered multiple shell casings and secured the area, but no injuries were reported. The suspect remains unidentified, and no arrests have been announced.
The final shooting occurred around 2:10 a.m. in the 40 block of Finlay Place in the West Ward. Police responded to reports of shots fired but reported no serious injuries.
The suspect in this incident also fled the scene and remains at large.
Newark’s Major Crimes Unit and Shooting Response Team have been engaged in all the investigations, which remain active and ongoing.
Authorities are urging anyone with information about these incidents to contact law enforcement.
