One police officer was killed and another was wounded after a 14-year-old suspect fired dozens of bullets at law enforcement officials during an illegal firearms investigation on Friday in Newark, New Jersey.
According to The New York Post, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephen confirmed that 26-year-old Newark Police Detective Joseph Azcona was killed following Friday’s shooting. During a Saturday news conference, Stephens told reporters, “Five-year veteran Joseph Azcona was shot before he even had the opportunity to leave his police car.”
Stephens explained that Azcona died from his injuries at 2:34 a.m. at University Hospital on Saturday while surrounded by his family.
Following the death of the police detective, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “Detective Joseph Azcona represented the very best of law enforcement — honor, integrity, professionalism, and a deep commitment to serving the public. An unimaginable loss for his family and the @NewarkNJPolice. May he Rest in Eternal Peace.”
Officials said both Azcona and his partner were injured during Friday’s shooting that took place near Carteret Street and Broadway in Newark at roughly 6:30 p.m.
“Based on criminal intelligence, the police were investigating the possibility that these individuals had illegal firearms,” Stephens told reporters. “Shots were exchanged upon the interaction with the police and those individuals, and unfortunately two officers and one suspect were hit by gunfire.”
According to The New York Post, sources indicated that the 14-year-old suspect, who has not yet been identified, fired 29 shots at the police officers. Following the shooting incident, law enforcement officials recovered an automatic weapon believed to have been used by the suspect, who currently faces charges of murder and attempted murder.
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“We need to focus laser sharp on trying to find the reason why this 14-year-old was in the situation that he was — had a gun, felt he could use it against police,” Stephens added. “That’s a crazy situation. That’s one that cannot go unchecked.”
While Azcona died after Friday night’s shooting, the other officer and the 14-year-old suspect are both expected to recover from their gunshot wounds after receiving treatment at University Hospital, according to The New York Post.
Addressing Friday’s tragedy, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said, “These are officers who got up yesterday morning to do their job, to go outside and make sure our streets were safe, to make sure 8-year-olds are not killed by stray bullets, to make sure our grandmothers could sit on their porches in peace, to make sure our neighborhoods are not overrun with violence and guns.”
“They were doing their jobs getting intelligence about guns on the street and they went to the scene, a scene many of us would not have gone to, knowing that danger lives there,” Baraka added. “They went anyway, and unfortunately, one of our officers did not recover from that.”
