Gun reform activists rally in wake of Newport Centre Mall shooting

Gun reform advocates rallied at Jersey City City Hall Monday as law enforcement officers continue to search for a man wanted in connection with a shooting at the Newport Centre Mall.

News 12 Staff

Jan 14, 2019, 5:15 PM

Updated 2,155 days ago

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Gun reform advocates rallied at Jersey City City Hall Monday as law enforcement officers continue to search for a man wanted in connection with a shooting at the Newport Centre Mall.
Jai Patel says he was just feet away from the bullets that flew in the food court at the mall Friday night. The Rutgers student from Jersey City is also an anti-gun violence activist. He founded the Hudson County branch of Students Demand Action after the Parkland school shootings in Florida.
Patel says that this rally was in response to the mall shooting and other incidents of gun violence.
"I really never envisioned myself being somewhere where a gun was going to be used, like the Newport mall,” Patel said. "There are people who deal with this every single day in our city. They just don't happen to be at the Newport mall at the time. They happen to be at their homes."
Jersey City police say that Ahmad Broadway shot two people inside the crowded mall Friday night, sending mall patrons scattering for cover. Police say that Broadway knew the victims and that this was a targeted, gang-related shooting.
Both victims survived the shooting and were released from the hospital Monday. One of the victims, Jalil Holmes, was wanted in connection with another shooting two days before the mall incident.
“We believe he shot at three people parked in a car, striking two to them with gunfire. So we already were searching for him,” says Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly.
Holmes faces 11 charges in that crime, as well as a charge of rioting in connection with the mall shooting.
Anyone who may have information about Broadway is asked to call Jersey City police at 201-395-4000.