1 Dead, 22 Injured in Trenton Art Festival Shooting
The mass shootings are continuing to pile up.
This time, it hit somewhere in our area.
A New Jersey arts and music festival turned deadly early Sunday morning when a barrage of bullets flew into a large crowd, sending attendees stampeding and leaving 22 people, including a 13-year-old boy, injured and one suspect dead, authorities said.
The chaos broke out at the Art All Night festival in Trenton around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, according to investigators.Officials said several fights sparked by disputes between neighborhood gangs broke out prior to the shooting. They also said officers warned that the event needed to be shut down before the shooting took place."Prior to the shooting, the Trenton Police Department began dispersing individuals," Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said. "Those individuals, however, continued to loiter and additional fights broke out and then the shooting occurred."Witnesses told officials they heard people arguing inside the historic Roebling Wire Works venue moments before gunfire erupted. The fight soon spilled out into the street as attendees ran for cover.Police said multiple people, including Tahaij Wells, 32, and Amir Armstrong, 23, then opened fire at each other. At least 1,000 people were in the area at the time.Officials said responding police officers shot and killed Wells. He had been on parole since February for homicide, according to investigators.Armstrong, who is in stable condition, is charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, officials said."The street is just flooding with people running, you know, unfortunately there was a girl who was shot in the leg, she was on top of my car," Samuel Kanig, another witness, said of the melee.At least 22 people were injured during the ordeal. Officials said 17 of the victims were shot while others who were hiding behind cars during the shooting were hurt when the vehicles began to move. -(NBC 10)