‘Shooting like crazy’: Dramatic Jersey City shooting video captures sound of heavy gunfire
JERSEY CITY - A Jersey City resident captured video of a shootout in which at least one police officer was killed along with multiple others on Tuesday, according to New Jersey state officials.
The shootout unfolded in the video, in which a succession of loud gunshots can be heard. Khalid McClenton was on scene and recorded the dramatic incident, according to Storyful.
Officials said there was no indication terrorism was behind the standoff marked by heavy gunfire.
One officer was pronounced dead at a hospital and multiple other people were found dead at the scene, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said, without indicating how many were killed.
A second officer was struck in the shoulder by gunfire, and two others were injured by shrapnel, Fulop said.
Authorities responded to active shooters in Jersey City. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) also responded to the scene. The New York Police Department sent emergency services personnel, and the forces counterterrorism unit was monitoring the situation.
The nearby Sacred Heart School was put on lockdown, but all staff and students were safe, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Newark.
Sporadic, heavy gunfire rang out over the course of at least an hour along a major thoroughfare before eventually quieting down. SWAT teams, state police and federal agents responded to the scene, and police blocked off the area, which, in addition to the school, has some stores, a kosher supermarket and a hair stylist.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the men and women of the Jersey City Police Department, especially with the officers shot during this standoff, and with the residents and schoolchildren currently under lockdown," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said. “I have every confidence in our law enforcement professionals to ensure the safety of the community and resolve this situation.”
Loud volleys of gunfire could be heard at regular intervals but subsided around 2 p.m. in the city, which is just across the Hudson River from Manhattan and is New Jersey's second-largest city after Newark. Dozens of bystanders pressed against the police barrier to film the action on cellphones, some whooping when gunfire bursts filled the air.
Andy Patel works at a liquor store about three blocks away from the site of the shooting site and said there had been consistent gunfire fire about an hour Tuesday afternoon.
“I can hear the gunshots. It's like firecrackers going off. They were shooting like crazy about an hour ago. Then it stopped for like 20 or 30 minutes. The cops were clearing everyone off the streets,” said Patel.
The Associated Press and Storyful contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.