Five Cops Wounded, Two Critically, After Jersey City Shootout

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.