HOBOKEN – “I’m still processing it,” said 17-year-old James Winston this afternoon regarding the death of a 51-year-old man just a block from where he lives.
According to a press release from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, on Monday, Feb. 1 man died at his apartment on Grand Street from unknown causes. The press release says that officers from the Hoboken Police Department were dispatched to 706 Grand St. around 1 a.m. “on a report of a person in cardiac arrest.”
“Upon arrival, officers found the 51-year-old male in cardiac arrest with an apparent single gunshot wound to his upper torso,” the press release says. “The male was pronounced dead shortly after 1:20 a.m.”
The Hoboken Police Department diverted questions to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office since the investigation is still pending. No word yet if the incident was a homicide – although the prosecutor’s office says they have nor ruled out that the gunshot may have been self-inflicted. A taped sign on the doorway of the Grand Street home was posted by the Homicide Unit, warning off trespassers.
“I was at the scene that morning heading to school and I saw the yellow tape and a crowd of people. This type of thing doesn’t really happened around here. It would be the first [homicide] in a while,” added Winston.
If the incident is ruled a homicide, it would be the first in Hoboken since three Jersey City youths were charged in connection with the “knockout game” death of a disabled homeless man in 2013.
A nanny in Hoboken who was pushing a stroller near Sixth Street said, “When I saw what happen on the news I was shocked. In Hoboken you barely hear of anything like this happening. There’s never really crime.”