Authorities in Paterson are investigating three shootings that left as many as six victims injured in the city early Saturday morning.
According to preliminary reports, in the first incident, about a hundred people gathered at the scene of shots-fired that occurred in the vicinity of Godwin and Summer Street just before 3:50 a.m.
Police say officers arrived to find three victims suffering gunshot wounds to various parts of their bodies at that location. One of the victims -a female- sustained a gunshot wound to the foot and a male was located suffering a gunshot wound to the leg in the immediate area. Police say they found a third victim seriously injured with a gunshot wound to the stomach.
In a separate incident, police are reporting life-threatening injuries for the victim of a shooting that occurred in the 60's block of Carroll Street.
Police say reports of shots fired had officers at the scene at approximately 4:35 a.m. where they found an unidentified person suffering bullet wounds at that location.
EMS arrived and began life-threatening techniques in an effort to keep the victim alive while police secured the scene for the investigation into the motive for the attack.
Police say in the final shooting, officials at the St. Joseph's Hospital contacted police when two gunshot victims entered the emergency department suffering bullet wounds. Officials said the more serious of the two suffered a bullet wound in his back while the other victim was struck in the arm.
According to the victims, they suffered their injuries when gunmen arrived in the area and began to fire multiple times in the vicinity of 12th Avenue and East 23rd Street just before 5 a.m.
All three shooting incidents are under investigation by the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.