Woman shoots officer in Montclair, N.J., police say

MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- A police officer was shot and the suspect was wounded in Montclair on Monday afternoon. 

The shooting took place on Forest Street at around 2:45 p.m.

The street was closed off as police and investigators with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office tried to determine what led up tot he shooting.

Authorities said police were called to a home on the 100 block of Forest, but haven't yet said why. They encountered a woman, who they say fired a weapon, hitting an officer. That officer returned fire, striking the woman.

Witnesses say after the gunfire they saw the woman being taken out of the home on a gurney, screaming, while a young boy, clearly stressed, was clinging to a female officer.

Neighbors said the woman at the center of this investigation moved into the neighborhood about six months ago and has two children, including that young boy, and mostly stayed to herself.

Police are trying to determine what happened in the moments leading up to the gunfire.

"I saw the cops roll in. The seconds I heard shots fired, they were screaming for everyone to get out of here. Three shots ... boom, boom, boom," neighbor Sean Ruff said.

Both the officer and woman were taken to University Hospital in Newark. They both are expected to survive.

Moments after the shooting, an elementary and high school nearby were put on lockdown.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office said there was no threat to the public.