Newark police and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office say that an off-duty Newark police officer shot a man who was trying to carjack him. The cop had been sitting in his car (wearing street clothes) near 17 Avenue A when two men approached him, demanding his car while brandishing a gun.
According to Patch.com, "The police officer reached for his own weapon and fired. The suspects fled in a second car and crashed into a parked car a short distance away on Emmet Street." A woman who witnessed the carjacking suspects' car crash told WCBS 2, "It slid into the SUV that was parked and I saw the two suspects flee from the car and as soon as that happened, I called 911 and went into the house." Another witness told WNBC, "Everyone started running."
The suspect who was shot by the cop was hit in the chest; he is in the hospital while the other suspect is at large. The police officer, who wasn't hurt, was also taken to the hospital.
