JERSEY CITY, NJ — A college student and his teenage friend were hit in a police-involved shooting late Monday and bullets pierced a building and a vehicle on the street.
Witnesses said the wounded men, ages 19 and 21, were setting off fireworks when a police lieutenant and two other city officers pulled up. All three officers opened fire. Officials say there’s no indication the officers acted improperly, but resident Luigi Luna called their actions “really careless.”
“I mean, this house right here was hit 16, 17 times,” he said. “Anybody in there could have gotten hit.”
One of the victims hit outside — 21-year-old Davonte Moore — was shot three times in the legs, according to his mother, Katrina Moore.
“Why did they shoot them boys?” she told PIX11 on the phone Tuesday. “If you didn’t see no gun, what was the point of shooting?”
Her son plays football at Iowa Western Community College. While she’s relieved he’s alive, she fears he’ll never play again.
The second victim, 19-year-old Shyquan Rush, said they were setting off Roman candles when police shot them.
“There’s no way that those could could say that they confused the sound, it’s way different,” Luna said.
The Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor has taken over the investigation.
