State police: 2 dead, 12 injured in shooting at Fairfield Township house party

They found a 30-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman fatally shot. They say 12 other adults were also shot and were already being transported to area hospitals with various injuries.

News 12 Staff

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May 23, 2021, 1:00 PM

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Updated 1,278 days ago

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A mass shooting at a Fairfield Township house party killed two people and injured 12 late Saturday night, state police say.

Troopers responded to a report of a shooting at a residence on East Commerce Street at 11:50 p.m.

They found a 30-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman fatally shot. They say 12 other adults were also shot and were already being transported to area hospitals with various injuries.

Family members of the 25-year-old victim say she was Asia Hester, a health care worker who lived a few blocks from the party.

State police say one of the victims sustained serious injuries and is in critical condition.

News 12 was told hundreds of people attended the party. One person who was at the event says someone acting as security checked for weapons and patted guests down.

Rev. Michael Keene says he saw people running away from where he was in the nearby Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church.

"I was just watching the people running back-and-forth, trying to figure out what really happened at that moment, and that is when…I heard somebody say that they're dead bodies all over the yard, that is what I heard," Keene says.

Authorities have not made any arrests or released any motive for the shooting.

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae in a statement pleaded for the public to come forward. She said:

"Someone in our community knows who is responsible for this tragic event. They’ve overheard information or seen suspicious activity that can help bring those who are responsible to account for their actions. Now is the time to step up and be a part of the solution in taking back our community from those who seek to destroy it."

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae

Gov. Phil Murphy expressed his condolences for the victims and decried gun violence in a statement posted online. It said in part:

"Let there be no mistake: This despicable and cowardly act of gun violence only steels our commitment to ensuring New Jersey leads the nation in passing and enforcing strong and commonsense gun safety laws. No community should ever experience what occurred last night in Fairfield."

Gov. Phil Murphy

A press conference is scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. Monday. Gov. Murphy, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the prosecutor and other law enforcement officials are expected to attend.

State police are urging anyone with information to call the Bridgeton Station at 856-451-0101. Tips can also be submitted to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office at www.njccpo.org/tips.