Following moves by police officials to help combat summertime street violence, documents reveal that a recent surge in shootings in Newark continues.
NEWARK -- Following moves by police officials to help combat summertime street violence, documents reveal that despite an eight percent reduction in overall crime, a recent surge in fatal and non-fatal shootings in Newark continues.
There were 218 total shooting incidents in Newark as of Sept. 6, according to police records obtained by NJ Advance Media. That's a 22-percent increase from where the total stood at the same point in 2014, the records say.
Law enforcement officials have given varying explanations for the increases. In an August interview with NJ Advance Media, Newark Police Department Director Eugene Venable tied the uptick to disputes among city residents involved in the local trade of illegal narcotics.
Other law enforcement officials have chalked the increases up to interpersonal beefs.
Along with an increase in the number of shooting incidents, police documents indicate that there has been a corresponding increase in the number of those injured in shootings.
By Sept. 6, 2014, 210 people had been wounded in reported shootings in Newark. At that same point in 2015, the total stood at 266, according to police department documents.
According to police reports, six of those injuries occurred earlier this week in three separate shooting incidents during a bloody 24-hour period in Newark.
MORE: 6 murders in a week -- How Newark is responding to homicide surge
The first began near University Heights at around 1 p.m. Tuesday, with a shooting and car chase near the intersection of First St. and Dickerson St., the report said.
Witnesses reported a Dodge Charger chasing a grey mini-van, with the driver firing shots at the van as they went, according the report.
As the Charger neared 12th Avenue, an officer stationed nearby unsuccessfully attempted to pull the vehicle over, it states. The male suspect driving the Charger sped off, striking a garbage truck and occupied school van before coming to a stop near South 11th Street and South Orange Avenue, the documents said.
Newark police have not released official details of the shooting or the subsequent pursuit, but according to the reports the occupants of the school van were uninjured in the incident.
The suspect driver was able to flee the scene on foot, the report said. It was unclear whether any arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
In the aftermath, a male was transported to University Hospital with a gunshot wound to the neck, the report said. His current medical condition has not been released by authorities. The motive for the Tuesday afternoon shooting remains unclear.
At 6 p.m. later in that day, a man was shot 10 times in the arms and chest outside of a local deli in the 300 block of Clinton Avenue, the reports say. He was later transported to University Hospital for treatment. His current medical condition is unclear.
Hours later, four others were wounded in yet another shooting incident in the 30 block of Irvine Turner Boulevard near the Betty Shabazz apartment complex, according to a police report detailing the incident. Additional details of the shootings have yet to be released by police officials.
The Tuesday shootings mark the second time this month that multiple people were injured by gunfire in a 24-hour period. On Sept. 9, four people were wounded by gunshots in three separate incidents, according to police reports obtained by NJ Advance Media.
Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
