Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the age of the child. The story below has been updated to reflect the new information.
NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) — Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed in a shooting in Newark on Wednesday, according to officials.
The shooting happened in the vicinity of Meeker and Johnson avenues, where police fatally shot someone while responding to an emergency call of several other victims who had been shot, according to the Essex County prosecutor’s office.
The shooting suspect is one of the three people confirmed dead, according to Mayor Ras Baraka.
“Tonight [Wednesday], there was a tragic shooting that left three people killed, including a child and the perpetrator. Three people dead. It’s tragic. This is the reason why we have to come together to deal with issues of mental health, drug abuse, anger, conflict, and all kinds of other issues that we see in our communities in general,” Mayor Baraka said in a statement.
A fourth person may have also been shot but is still hospitalized as of Thursday morning, according to police sources.
Baraka said drugs played a role, and three guns were found at the scene. According to Baraka, everyone inside the home, including the shooter, knew each other, but the cause of the shooting is still unclear.
“I didn’t know it was gunshots i thought it was kids playing,” one neighbor said.
Surveillance video from the neighbor back yard showed police searching for evidence after the shooting.
Sources told PIX11 News the mother of the boy was also inside the home but climbed out of a window to escape being shot.
“I’m traumatized, I’m still shocked,” the neighbor said.
“You cry when you have a kid and imagine a little kid getting shot. This is an innocent kid who doesn’t know anything,” another neighbor said.
The state attorney general’s office and the Essex County prosecutor’s office are investigating.
