Residents call for increased police presence following shooting at Jersey City housing complex
According to city officials, three suspects entered the Marion Gardens complex on a scooter and opened fire in the courtyard area around 5 p.m.
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Residents of a public housing complex in Jersey City are calling for the return of dedicated police officers to their neighborhood after a shooting Wednesday afternoon left one person injured.
According to city officials, three suspects entered the Marion Gardens complex on a scooter and opened fire in the courtyard area around 5 p.m.
"I was in the house when I actually heard something," said Marion Gardens resident Vilma Barnett. "At first, I thought it was fireworks."
Jersey City Councilman Tom Zuppa said that until a few months ago, several Jersey City police officers were assigned to Marion Gardens five days a week. However, he said the city's Department of Public Safety recently reassigned officers stationed at housing authority posts to general patrol duties.
Zuppa said the police substation at Marion Gardens now sits empty, and he wants to see that change.
"What I'm advocating for is the reinstatement of the housing authority police in this neighborhood," he said. "I know our resources are thin, but when we talk priorities, having them here is essential."
Residents told News 12 they're also pushing to bring officers back, hoping to deter violence in the future.
"Having the police on site makes a big difference," Barnett said. "It makes people feel a little more safer."
Some community members called the incident preventable.
"It happened in broad daylight," said Marion Gardens resident James Beaty. "Before, we used to have the cops here, and they wouldn't dare come down and do that that time of day."
Beaty also said officers had developed strong relationships with residents, particularly young people in the community.
"The cops up there...they were getting to know the kids, getting to know them by their first names and everything and getting to know who their parents were," he said. "If you don't get police presence back down here, it could happen again."
News 12 reached out to the Jersey City Police Department for comment regarding the reassignment of officers from housing authority posts and is awaiting a response.
