Newark Residents Decry Wave Of Fatal Shootings In City

NEWARK, NJ — “Love and appreciate your families and your community.” This was the plea from a Newark resident on Monday in the wake of a string of fatal shootings in the city.

Although Newark has seen a drop in homicides over the past four years, there has been an “uptick in violence” over the past few weeks, Mayor Ras Baraka said.

It’s a situation that “will not be tolerated and must be stopped,” Baraka added.

“The Newark Police Division is meeting with state and federal partners today to discuss how we can ban together to end this epidemic,” Baraka said Monday. “Now more than ever, we need the help of every resident, every community group, and every resource, to fight against what appears to be one of our toughest adversaries.”

According to Baraka, the city will hold a virtual town hall for the community on Friday with Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose, Police Chief Darnell Henry and the captains of every precinct to discuss the shootings.

The Newark Anti-Violence Coalition (NAVC) also issued a statement about the wave of recent violence on Monday. Its members have been visiting some of the neighborhoods where the shootings have been taking place to offer support services.

The group said:

“[We] wholeheartedly condemn the recent round of shootings that have taken place in the last few weeks … Most disturbing is that many of these shootings have been drive-bys, or in a similar indiscriminate fashion where shooters have shot into crowds of people. One incident killed 21-year-old Rashidah Y. Sutton-Bryant at Bradley Court several days ago. Another wounded a 10-year-old child.”

“‘Mask up’ does not mean go out and shoot up your community,” the group stated, referring to city officials’ ongoing call to wear face masks in public. “Put the guns down. Go home.”

“Love and appreciate your families and your community,” NAVC chair Keesha Eure said.

Recent shootings in Newark have included:

• On Sunday at approximately 6:36 p.m., Lamar Rutherford, 31, of Irvington, was fatally shot on the 100-block of 14th Avenue.
• Rashidah Y. Sutton-Bryant, 21, of Newark was fatally shot at the Bradley Court Complex on North Munn Avenue at 10:22 p.m. on July 26. Read the full article.
• Tyree R. Quinones, 22, of Newark was fatally shot on the 100-block of Sunset Avenue at 10:30 p.m. on July 12. Read the full article.
• Back-to-back shootings in Newark claimed three lives over the July 4th weekend. Laquan T. Nowlin, 32, of East Orange, was fatally shot in the area of Sanford and Lanark Avenue on July 3. Nowlin was employed as a juvenile detention officer at the Essex County Youth Detention Center. On July 4, two people were fatally shot on the 100-block of Brookdale Avenue in Newark, prosecutors said. The victims were identified as Nekeya Grady, 36, of Willingboro and Earl Cohen, 46, of Newark. Read the full article.

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