DoorDash Driver One of Three People Shot in Paterson Over Weekend

A DoorDash driver who was shot and died while making a food delivery on Friday was a victim of one of three shootings in Paterson, New Jersey, over the weekend. Now Paterson's city council is convening on short notice to hear from police about what can be done to address the shootings. 

Petra Rhoden, 43, of Paterson, was making a food delivery near Harrison Street and Jelsma Place in Paterson around 10 p.m. on Friday when she was shot, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday. After she was shot, prosecutors believe Rhoden tried to drive off, but ended up crashing her car through a fence, hitting a shed.

A block away, police found a 13-year-old boy dead after being shot in the head on Saturday. And on Sunday, a 33-year-old woman was hit by a bullet. She survived. 

Council members gathered behind closed doors Monday, calling on police to discuss "urgent public safety concerns."

"There’s a lot of tools that the police department have and we want to know what are those tools and how they’re gonna be implemented and that’s what we’re going to discuss in closed session," Paterson City Council member Luis Velez said. 

Meanwhile Paterson residents were unnerved by the violence, some too afraid to show their face on camera. "I can’t even put it into words as a female, older woman, it’s scary," one woman said. 

A DoorDash spokesperson on Sunday said the company was "deeply saddened by the loss of Petra Rhoden, a Paterson-area Dasher, and our thoughts are with her family, friends and loved ones."

"We have reached out to her family to offer our full support to them during this difficult time," the spokesperson said in a statement. "In addition, we are in contact with law enforcement and cooperating with their investigation of this horrific crime."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact 1-877-370-PCPO.