The Essex County Prosecutor's Office has taken over the investigation into a quadruple shooting that left a man dead on a street in the city's West Ward on Monday evening.
According to a preliminary statement released by Newark Police officials, a hail of gunfire rang out in the vicinity of 139 South 8th Street just before 5 p.m. sending over a dozen police officers to the scene where they found multiple people on the ground suffering injuries at that location.
While police taped off the area and secured the scene, they began the process of separating victims that suffered gunshot wounds and those who were injured after falling to the ground after gunmen arrived in the area and started aimlessly blasting in the residential neighborhood.
Initially, police believed that bullets injured five victims, but medical officials confirmed that four people were gunned down with one of the wounded sufferings fatally.
Friends and family said the victim is 49-year-old Mr. Hassan Webb, who they believe was shot while attempting to return home from work.
Residents in the area said it is a standard practice/procedure to get on the floor and under their beds when regular gunfire rang out in the heavy drug trafficked area that has not changed in over 30 years.
"Gun violence and drug trafficking has been consistently well past the days when nearby Bombers Barber Shop began cutting flat-top hairstyles for males in the area back in the mid-'80s." Residents said very little has changed.
Police say three victims were rushed the short distance to University Hospital for treatment and are expected to survive.
Detectives investigating at the scene marked off over a dozen shell casings where they believe the suspects exchanged gunfire with individuals on South 8th Street.
The motive for the shooting is under investigation and the suspects remain at-large.