Six shootings occurred between 11:40 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 4:45 a.m. the next morning in Jersey City, and some may fear that the recent statistical decline in crime is reversing.
By the end of last week, two men had been arrested in connection with the shootings, and while the victims in two of the crimes appear to be stonewalling the police, the investigations continue.
Police Chief Thomas Comey said last week that many shootings at one time were “unusual occurrences” based on his 30 years on the force. But police statistics give a different picture, and possibly a prediction of more gun violence to come.
In 2010, the police reported 95 incidents of shootings when someone was struck by a bullet, an increase of nine over the 2009’s total of 86.
Suspects are still at large in four of the incidents.
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Comey said it would be “inappropriate” to comment about whether the proposed layoffs could have an impact on crime fighting, since negotiations are ongoing to keep those officers in their jobs. But he said he is “optimistic” that the layoffs will not happen.
The Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association (POBA) announced on Wednesday they have agreed to one of the concessions the city requested to avoid the layoffs – a one-week pay lag – pending a vote by their membership.
But in exchange for this concession, and others expected to come, the POBA wants the city to agree to set aside about $900,000 from a recent $2.8 million payment from a Downtown developer to avert the layoffs before reaching a complete agreement with the city.
Happy Bloody New Year
According to police, around 11:40 p.m. New Year’s Eve, a 16-year-old Jersey City resident suffered life-threatening injuries on Grant Avenue after being shot in the abdomen three times and once in the back.
He was taken to Jersey City Medical Center and hospitalized in stable condition. Comey said the victim has been “very uncooperative” with police in the days following the shooting, making it difficult to find a suspect. But Comey thinks he knows why.
“The 16-year old is not a stranger to police, and you could read between lines of what I just said,” he said.
Police said around 2 a.m. the same night, a shootout took place outside Brenda’s Place, a bar on Ocean Avenue near New Street. The incident required units from several police districts to rush to the scene to break up fights that erupted in the aftermath.
Rashauan Johnson, 21, of Jersey City was charged with aggravated assault and various weapons charges for use of an allegedly stolen gun. Johnson suffered a gunshot wound in the side and was rushed into emergency surgery in critical condition. Comey said Johnson’s condition has taken “a turn for the worse.”
Then police said, around 2:30 a.m., a 21-year-old man from Irvington was shot twice, in each hip, on Virginia Avenue during a shooting that stemmed from an argument among a group of friends. Police said that victim also did not cooperate with police.
Around 3 a.m., police responded to a shooting on Bidwell Avenue where a 26-year-old Jersey City man suffered a non life-threatening gunshot wound.
An hour later, police said a man was shot in the groin at the Candlewood Suites Hotel on Second Street in downtown Jersey City. According to a police report, Larry Jackson, 18, of Beacon Avenue was arrested at his home Wednesday morning in connection with that shooting.
And at approximately 4:45 a.m. Saturday morning, police responding to a report of gunshots at a building on Halladay Street discovered a badly beaten man bleeding profusely from his face and mouth.
Suspects are still being sought in this incident, as well as the Ocean Avenue, the Virginia Avenue, and the Bidwell Avenue incidents.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.