NEWARK, N.J. — A police officer was killed and another was critically wounded in a shooting Friday evening in Newark, authorities said, as witnesses described a chaotic scene of a dozen or more gunshots and officers running down a busy street.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office told The Associated Press that two Newark police officers were shot around 6:37 p.m. in the area of Broadway and Carteret.
The officers were taken to University Hospital in Newark and one was critically injured, the prosecutor’s office said. It said the shooting remains under investigation and gave no other details Saturday, including about suspects or arrests.
Police unions said one officer was killed. The New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association another other was “fighting for their life in critical condition.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s office said the governor visited the hospital Friday night and called it an “incredibly difficult night” for the officers and their families. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement that “tonight is a painful reminder” of the sacrifices that police officers make.
Witnesses said they heard a string of gunshots after officers went running down the street on a commercial strip between a McDonald’s and White Castle restaurants near the Passaic River.
Witness Randy Mejia told WCBS-TV right before he heard gunshots that he saw officers running down the street.
“It sounded like a car accident and it went boom, boom, boom,” Mejia said.
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