As many as five people were shot last night in front of Jersey City’s new $120 million public safety building.
According to multiple reports, the shooting took place last night at the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Orient Avenue in Bergen-Lafayette, the location of the new building which opened in April.
The shooting took place shortly before 2:30 a.m. when police were called to the area having received a report of gunshots. According to RLS Media, responding officers encountered one person with gunshot wounds. Four other wounded people reportedly arrived in a private vehicle at the Jersey City Medical Center emergency room, also suffering from gunshot wounds.
A gunman was seen firing a weapon at the victims from the sunroof of a white vehicle, which then fled.
The exact number of people injured in the shooting is unclear at this time. One report received by the Jersey City Times put the number of those shot at three.
The extent of crime generally, and shootings in particular, in Jersey City is difficult to assess. Without explanation, the Fulop administration stopped publishing monthly CompStat crime data in June of 2019.
Earlier this year, Jersey City began publishing a tally of homicides, “shooting incidents” and “shooting victims.” Neither “shooting incidents” nor “shooting victims” are defined. Nor are they official categories in F.B.I. crime statistics. Jersey City residents already receive data on homicides from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Jersey City continues to withhold up-to-date data on major crime categories such as robbery, larceny, burglary, aggravated assault, rape and auto theft.
New York City and Newark residents have access to weekly crime data, including shootings, from weekly CompStat reports posted on their respective websites. Hoboken maintains a “Police Blotter” with detailed weekly reports of arrests made.