Newark Shootings May Be Drug-Related: Cops

At least four people were wounded in the barrage of gunfire

Initial evidence points to drugs as a possible motive for a hail of gunfire that left at least four people wounded at a housing complex in New Jersey's largest city.    

Newark police have not made any arrests in Monday's shootings in the Kemsco Village complex. The neighborhood is a few blocks from the Broad Street train station and bordered by busy Broad Street and Bloomfield Avenue.     

Police have not released the names of the victims.   

Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio is imploring anyone who may have witnessed the attack to contact police.   

Neighbor Jean McNair told NBC New York the gunfire "sounded like a machine gun."

"Boom, boom, like a cannon -- everybody that heard it took cover like we did," she said. "We ran away from the door, I thought the building was coming down or something."

Another woman sitting on her front steps — who asked not to be identified — says she was outside washing her car around 1 p.m. when she heard "15 or 20 shots" and ran inside.

She says shootings are not common in the complex. Many rushed to protect their kids who were home from school on a summer-like Columbus Day.

"It is upsetting, especially if you have little kids. But what can we do? Let the cops and everyone do their job," said Torrian Baskerville, a resident.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us