New Jersey Art Festival Shooting Leaves 20 Injured, One Gunman Killed, Another Taken Into Custody
At least 20 people, including a teenager, have been injured after a mass shooting at a New Jersey art festival, WPVI-TV (Philadelphia) is reporting.
About a thousand people were inside the Roebling Wire Works Building in the city’s south side for the annual Art All Night Trenton 2018 Festival. At about 2:45 a.m., gunshots broke out.
Witness Angelo Nicolo thought at first he was hearing fireworks.
“And all of a sudden, my brother goes to me, ‘You hear that gunfire?’ I go, ‘It sounds like fireworks.’ He said, ‘No, that’s gunfire.’ Next thing you know, we turn around and everybody’s running down the street. All hell broke loose.”
Irving Higginbotham, who was one of the people who got shot, describes what happened.
“Everybody was having a nice time. The next thing you know, there were gunshots, got shot in the leg, fell on the ground, and that was it.”
Police, fire, and ambulances from multiple agencies descended on the scene, including some from neighboring counties.
At least 20 people were injured, including a police officer. A least three people, including a 13-year-old, suffered critical injuries.
Meanwhile, one suspect has been taken into custody. Another suspect, identified only as a 33-year-old man, has died. It is not clear how he died, although the Mercer County’s Prosecutors Office Homicide Task Force, which has taken over the investigation, notes that the incident included an “officer-involved shooting.” Police are interviewing witnesses to try to determine if there may have been more gunmen, who may be still at-large.
Breaking: Mass shooting incident in Trenton, NJ — Trenton City officials say multiple people were shot at a 24-hour all night art event. Witnesses report a fight and gunshots around 2:50am, crowds running out of Roebling Market. @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/x1UERcMWYF
— Randy Gyllenhaal (@RandyGyllenhaal) June 17, 2018
At least one Twitter user claims, in what may be the ultimate irony, that the gunfire erupted in front of a booth hosted by Moms Demand Action, a group aimed at ending gun violence.
However, it bears noting that, as of this writing, that claim has not been confirmed.
As of this writing, no possible motive for the shooting has been revealed.
The Art All Night Trenton Festival has been an annual event in the New Jersey city for 12 years now. This year’s event was to include more than 1,500 works of art, as well as graffiti, “live murals,” musical performances and a film festival.
This year’s event began at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, and was to continue through 3:00 p.m. Sunday. However, following the shooting, organizers canceled the remainder of the festival.
In a statement, festival organizers announced the closing, while offering their condolences to the victims.
“Our sincere, heartfelt sympathies are with those who were injured.”
This is a developing story. More information about this shooting will be provided by the Inquisitr as it becomes available.
