Police: Arrest made in weekend shooting of Newark teen
An 18-year-old has been arrested for the shooting of a 13-year-old on Sunday in Newark.
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Newark police say they have made an arrest has been in the shooting of a teen in Newark over the weekend.
They say the suspect, who remains unnamed, is an 18-year-old whose been linked to two shootings, as has his weapon. They added he was found with an untraceable ghost gun.
"I don't know in my mind what would make a person shoot a 13-year-old boy in the chest,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
The victim was shot across the street from Central High School at Nat Turner Park. He remains in stable condition at University Hospital.
This latest shooting isn’t the first to happen in Newark during the month. On May 3, 8-year-old Zhamire Lopez was fatally in his home by an intruder. That shooter was gunned down by police despite a motive being revealed.
In the last two months, Newark has had 13 homicides. Officials say that arrests have been made in eight of those cases.
City of Newark Director of Public Safety Fritz Frage added to combat the rise in crime they will conduct intelligence-based patrols at Newark housing authority complexes. Essex county sheriff's officers will have a strong presence in parks, and the U.S. Marshall's office will also be in the city searching for wanted criminals.
"They will conduct warrant sweeps every month for three days straight in June, July and August,” said Frage.
Teams from the Office of Violence Prevention will also be monitoring the area’s hotspots for possible crime.
