NEWARK — The Attorney General’s Office is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey.

According to the preliminary investigation, yesterday at approximately 8:34 p.m. police responded to a 9-1-1 call that individuals had been shot inside a residence on Johnson Avenue in Newark. When police entered the residence, they found one man deceased from a gunshot wound and an 8-year-old boy who had been struck by gunfire. The child was transported to University Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 9:14 p.m.

Police encountered an adult male with a firearm running away from the residence where the two individuals had been shot. Several police officers from the Newark Police Department engaged in a foot pursuit, two officers fired their weapons during the encounter and the male was fatally wounded. The identities of the decedent and the officers are not being released at this time.

A 2019 law, P.L. 2019, c. 1, requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.

The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time. The investigation into the homicide at the Johnson Avenue residence is being conducted by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

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