Plainfield, N.J. Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Woman And 6-Year-Old Girl Wounded
PLAINFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - Bullets flew in a Plainfield, New Jersey neighborhood Friday afternoon, leaving one person dead and two others – including a 6-year-old – wounded.
As CBS2's Christine Sloan reported, the shooting happened at around 2:30 p.m. Friday at West 3rd Street near Evona Avenue.
Investigators set up at least a dozen markers set up to show where shell casings fell afterward. Police were focusing on a house on Evona Avenue.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, police said as many as seven shots were fired as children played on a porch. They were right by their front door and still were not safe.
"I am upset over that little baby getting hurt," said neighbor Marlene Williams. "It's uncalled for."
A bullet hole was seen in the porch fencing, and another was seen nearby through the siding of the home.
A young man standing on the sidewalk, who witnesses said was unrelated to the group on the porch, was struck by a bullet and was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead.
Police believe stray bullets are what struck a woman on the porch -- apparently causing a graze wound – and also hit a 6-year-old girl and wounded in the leg.
Edgar Colon owns the house outside which the victims were wounded. He said the little girl was there visiting his daughter, and they were just playing.
He said the woman who was injured was his wife, but it was minor enough for her to be treated at the scene. She then went to give statements to the police.
A man who did not want to be identified, but said he was a close friend of the family, told CBS2's Carlin the little girl had been struck twice in the leg.
"They don't know when she's going to come back to the home, but she's OK," he said. "That's the really good thing."
Elsie Coleman told WCBS 880's Kelly Waldron she was out raking leaves when she heard, "pow, pow, pow."
She saw a car take off, and called 911 when she noticed a man hurt on the ground nearby.
"I said, 'The guy is saying, "Help me!"' and I asked her, 'Do I go over there to help him?'" Coleman said.
The dispatcher advised Coleman not to help the man out of fear for her safety.
Witnesses said the little girl was playing in front of her home, when a car pulled up and someone started shooting at a man walking on the street. A father and his daughter witnessed the violence on their front porch, and the father wanted to help the little girl.
"We hear, I mean, at least 10 or 11 shots, so when I hear the second one or third one I just jumped over to the fence," said one man who lives nearby. "She was probably scared of me; she was shaking really bad."
"This guy came in a car, and then he started shooting, and it hit the girl in her leg," said the witness' 7-year-old daughter. "I feel like it's very dangerous."
Residents said they have had enough of the violence in the area.
"It's very frustrating – very frustrating. I have a pit bull to keep my own self safe. I pray a lot, because I hope God keeps me covered," said Rosey Townsend of Plainfield. "But there was a couple of times we had to stay on our lower end of our house – we have upstairs and down – because of the bullets. We don't have time for that. I don't have time to be ducking in my own bed."
The Union County Prosecutor's office was investigating late Friday. Sources said the child's wounds were non-life-threatening.
Police said they have increased officer patrols in this area as they search for the suspect.
Anyone with information on the shooting was asked to contact Union County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Task Force Sgt. Joseph Vendas at (908) 358-3048.