Five Cops Wounded, Two Critically, After Jersey City Shootout

Photograph of police investigating the scene after a shoot out in Jersey City by Rich Schultz/AP

After police surveillance of two robbery suspects turned into a bloody gunfight, leaving four Jersey City police officers and one Port Authority police officer wounded and the two suspects dead, Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey noted that one of the suspects, Hassan Shakur, had a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun "a combat weapon. It's got a stock that's retractable. It had a strap on it where he had numerous shells on it. He was ready to battle." Comey added, "I don't know how many times a big city chief has to stand here and say we need help to stop these weapons from hitting the streets. This weapon is manufactured for no other reason than to hunt man. So we should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid of our own rights."

The Star-Ledger reports, "The officers shot are Jersey City Police Officers Michael Camacho, 25; Marc DiNardo, 37; Frank Molina Jr., 35; and Marc Lavelle, 43; as well as Port Authority Officer Dennis Mitchell, 35." DiNardo was shot twice in the face while Camacho was shot in the neck ("surgeons removed a projectile lodged between his jugular vein and carotid artery"); both are in critical condition. The police had been ready to arrest Shakur and Amanda Anderson, who were charged with shooting a man last month. From the Star-Ledger:

Officers learned the couple usually moved their stolen car for the sweeper between 5:45 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Thursdays, so cops got there about 5:15 a.m. to set up, officials said. But the couple walked out a half-hour earlier than expected. The man believed to be Shakur saw the cops, dropped the "monk's" robe he wore and revealed a 12-gauge shotgun Comey described as an assault weapon meant for "hunting humans."

"He announced his intentions by firing three shots at our officers," said Comey.

Officers were hit by the gunshots and returned fire. The NY Times says it was a 90-minute siege—"the mayor of New Jersey’s second-largest city, said at a news briefing, detailing a 90-minute siege that culminated in a four-minute gun battle at 24 Reed Street — the worst violence in years in a rapidly gentrifying old railroad town of 240,000 across the Hudson from the towers of Lower Manhattan." The Star-Ledger said the Emergency Service Unit officers went to the couple's apartment "so they broke it down and four officers were immediately hit when the gunman fired three to five rounds, Comey said. The cops carried out their wounded and returned minutes later to find their gunfire had killed both suspects."

An EMT told the Daily News, "It was like a horror movie. There was blood everywhere. Scary wasn't the word." DiNardo's and Camacho's fellow officers are holding a vigil for them.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 17, 2009 9:25 AM

Comments [rss]

The Edge

Comey needs to shut the fuck up.

I like how whenever something like this happens, pricks like him make it sound like it happens ALL THE TIME.

Mindset is the key. These cops obviously weren't expecting much of a hassle and were mentally unprepared for this. Just look what happened in the '86 FBI Miami shootout.

Maybe if they--JCPD--implemented better training (and made it mandatory to attend several times a year), these cops would never have ended up like they did. You've got all these guys back from Iraq with a TON of MOUT experience--some of them cops--why can't they just tap these guys for their knowledge? Is it really that hard?

Another big problem is the lack of enforcement for physical standards. Looking at Comey, I'm not surprised.

Felix Hoenikker

More guns in the news: http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=10741492&nav=menu57_2

remthewanderer

This is a sad altercation but I need to point out that the weapon used to assault these officers is a perfectly legal weapon under NJ's strict gun laws. What weapon did the other perp have? No mention of that was made in the gothamist's article.

A pump action shotgun is allowed to have either a retractable stock or no stock at all. Shotguns in NJ can not legally hold more than 6 rounds. So let's say that the shooter had the weapon fully loaded. The "strap" is usually called a side saddle. Typically these hold another 6 rounds.

That is 12 total rounds. I am not sure about Jersey city police but most police have 40S&W caliber pistols that hold more than 12 rounds per magazine and multiple magazines are carried by each cop.

My points are that the police easily outnumbered and outgunned the perps in this case. As well as the fact that this was a legal weapon to purchase by any NJ resident who follows the rules and fills out the correct paperwork.

Brooklyn

Pretty badass way to go -- I can already see Shakur's story narrated by Ving Rhames on BET's "American Gangster." Title song -- "Me and My Girlfriend," by 2Pac.

Those cops were stupid to just walk right into an obvious trap. If you're carrying the elephant gun just to go move your stolen car -- a comedic note, as if you would care about alternate-side -- pretty obvious you want the cops to meet your little friend upstairs.

Past their grief and rage, I'm sure the cops have a grudging respect. My man truly had nothing to lose and showed it. I expect that's the last time JCPD bust down a door all puffy-chested expecting nothing but cowering crackheads inside.

Dwayne Hoover

"So we should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid of our own rights."

Or, we should all just go out and buy shotguns, because they're hella-effective as a

defense weapon against the police and others....

UnrepentantFenian

Where are all the cop haters to cry that they shouldn't killed these 2 animals? Why isn't John Del Signdickhead covering this story with some snarky digs at the wounded officers?

dhex

"So we should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid of our own rights.""

i realize he meant "afraid *for* our own rights" but it's chilling regardless.

Polite New Yorker

While the style of shotgun and accessories the chief described here is indeed mostly used for "hunting man," shotguns are not considered assault weapons by any reputable authority and are also used for hunting birds, killing snakes, and other unobjectionable things. I am not familiar with what the gun laws are in New Jersey. But New York City, which has some of the toughest (and in my opinion unconstitutional) gun laws in the country, shotguns are allowed.

dhex

"This weapon is manufactured for no other reason than to hunt man."

beyond that lie, if you want to be all polemical and shit, you can just say that the cops don't want any competition when they play swat team dress-up and blow away pets and family members in wrong-door raids.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/134734.html

this is basically radley balko's beat:

http://www.theagitator.com/2009/06/23/yet-another-isolated-incident-2/

nicemarmot

"So we should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid of our own rights."

Um, what? Even if you do ban assault weapons, it's not like they're going to stop being made, and as long as they're being manufactured, people will get them, legal or not. It isn't like these dead perps bought their guns at reputable gun stores.