Twenty-Two Injured, One Shooter Dead in New Jersey Art Festival Shooting
A night-long arts and music festival in Trenton, New Jersey suddenly turned into deadly mayhem as gunfire sent people in a stampede. Twenty-two people were injured and one of the suspects were killed before the situation was brought under control, according to authorities.
The Art All Night Trenton festival was in full swing at around 2:45 a.m. local time on Sunday, June 17, when two suspects opened gunfire into the crowd of people at the scene.
The ensuing chaos resulted in festival goers getting trampled, aside from the seventeen people who had to be treated later for gunshot wounds. Four of the people who were hit with gunshots remained in critical condition by late Sunday morning, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri via the Associated Press.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
One of the witnesses, Gennie Darisme, was about to leave at the time the incident happened. "There were people trampling other people, cars hitting other cars," she said.
The police identified the slain suspect as Tahaij Wells, a 33-year-old former inmate who has just been released from prison on homicide-related charges. He is believed to have been killed by police.
The other suspect, who has been identified as Amir Armstrong, has been arrested and charged on weapons offenses, according to CNN.
Even though 22 people were wounded in the shooting and the ensuing chaos, things could have been a lot worse, according to Onofri. Authorities estimate that as many as 1,000 people were in the area at the time of the incident.
"It absolutely could have been worse given the confined space and the number of shots that appear to have been fired," Onofri pointed out, noting that the event organizers have not put metal detectors at the festival entrances.
"We're still processing much of this and we don't have many answers at this time, but please know that our staff, our volunteers, our artists and musicians all seem to be healthy and accounted for. Our sincere, heartfelt sympathies are with those who were injured," the organizers of Art All Night Trenton said on Facebook.
