A person was fatally shot in the area of Martin Luther King Drive and Myrtle Avenue in Jersey City Monday evening, the city’s fourth homicide in the past seven days.
In a tweet, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said the prosecutor’s office’s homicide unit and the Jersey City Police Department are investigating the shooting, which occurred at roughly 6:30 p.m. The victim was described only as a male.
According to police radio transmissions, the victim was shot multiple times.
Earlier Monday, the prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the possible motives in the recent rash of shootings, citing the ongoing investigations.
Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said police have seized or recovered 94 guns so far in 2020, twice the total for the same time period last year, “which translates to 94 potential crimes thwarted.”
“It’s unfortunate that these actors view this current crisis as an opportunity to commit crimes and carry out attacks on one another as we’ve recently seen,” Wallace-Scalcione said. “Our police officers continue to put their lives on the line to keep our community safe despite the additional COVID-19 concerns.”
The four shootings have occurred along a 1.3-mile stretch between Rose/Cator avenues and Martin Luther King Drive/Forrest Street. Up until March 31, there had been just one homicide in the city in 2020.
On March 31, 25-year-old Damone Smith was killed in the area of Rose and Cator avenues and the following night, 17-year-old Stephanie Jacques was killed on Martin Luther King Drive and Forrest Street.
On Saturday, 21-year-old Akim Ward was fatally shot shortly after 3:15 p.m. on Ocean Avenue between Bidwell and Bayview avenues, officials said. He was transported to the Jersey City Medical Center and pronounced dead 15 minutes later.