An incident where a man was found suffering a fatal gunshot wound to the head on a street in Orange early Saturday morning has been deemed not a homicide according to officials at the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
The shooting happened at around 5:30 a.m. where police received a call from the victim who reported that he was shot in the 300 block of Central Avenue.
Police arrived at the scene and after a search of the area, they found an unconscious and unresponsive male in the 300 block of Jackson Street suffering a gunshot wound.
The victim was reportedly found with a cell phone and a weapon nearby according to reports.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the unidentified man’s death and said the Major Crimes Task Force was in its early stages of investigating who or what officially caused the man’s death.
According to Katherine Carter, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor’s Office, The Orange Police Department will handle the investigation and at this time homicide is not suspected.
Residents in the area said Orange Police Detectives informed them that the man shot himself during the course of the incident and there was no homicide.
There were no other injuries reported.