JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Two young men playing with fireworks late Monday night in Jersey City were shot multiple times in a police-involved shooting.
One of the victims, 19-year-old Shyquan Rush, told PIX11’s Anthony DiLorenzo that he and his friend, 21-year-old college student Davonte Moore, were setting off roman candle fireworks Monday night when police confronted them, and then shots were fired.
In a statement Tuesday morning, Hudson Country officials confirmed three Jersey City Police officers, including a Lieutenant, discharged their weapons while on patrol at the Arlington Gardens housing complex.
Authorities said the circumstances surrounding the officer-involved shooting remain under active investigation.
Police responded to the Randolph Avenue complex in the Bergen/Lafayette neighborhood of Jersey City at 10:15 p.m. Monday, however it’s unclear what exactly led to shots being fired.
“Why did they shoot them boys?” Katrina Moore, Davonte’s mother, said to PIX11 News on a phone call Tuesday. “If you didn’t see no gun, what was the point of shooting?” she wondered.
Moore said her son was shot three times in the legs and will undergo emergency knee surgery Tuesday. Davonte plays football at Iowa Western Community College and while his mother is relieved he’s alive, she fears he’ll never play again.
Moore was rushed to Jersey City Medical Center by ambulance, while witness Tyblade Gordon told PIX11 he drove second victim Rush to the emergency room.
“I drove to the hospital as fast as I could,” Gordon said early Tuesday. “He’s alright…I just talked to him…He didn’t know it was a gunshot, he thought it was fireworks,” he added.
Moore remains in the hospital Tuesday morning awaiting surgery, his mother said.
Rush was released from the hospital around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Officials said their injuries were non-life threatening.
New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice was immediately notified of the incident, according to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez, and the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor has taken over the investigation.
