An overnight shooting in the city's East Ward left one victim dead, authorities say.
NEWARK -- An overnight shooting in the city's East Ward left one victim dead, authorities confirmed Wednesday.
The shooting occurred in the 100 block of Avenue C, said Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter.
Additional details of the incident were not immediately available, she added.
The killing, the first recorded since the start of November, dampens hopes that the city could avoid a increase in annual homicides.
With the Wednesday morning homicide, the city's 2015 homicide total now stands at 83. After a harrowing summer that erased gains made earlier in the year, Newark remains on pace to exceed the 2014 homicide total of 93.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka acknowledged the possibility of a slight increase in annual homicides Monday at press conference following President Barack Obama's visit to the city.
"We're on course to see a slight uptick in violence because of crime over the summer, but we're not there yet," Baraka said.
Officials hope that the various community engagement programs established by the city will help reduce the homicide numbers in a "holistic way," Baraka said. The addition of 41 new officers, who officials said will be assigned to patrol the city's most violence-plagued corners, to the city's police force could also help curb a potential increase in homicides, he continued.
"We're still hopeful that by the end of the year we'll see the numbers remain stead, but we're not satisfied with that," he said "We're going to work hard so that we see [the numbers]dip."
Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
