Man shot twice after attacking Jersey City cops with 'fence post' near memorial for cop's killer: authorities

By Ron Zeitlinger | The Jersey Journal
Follow on Twitter
on July 15, 2014 at 10:04 AM, updated July 15, 2014 at 10:45 AM

A man attacked a Jersey City police officer inside his marked vehicle this morning and was shot twice by police a block from a memorial for the man who shot and killed a Jersey City police officer Sunday, authorities said.

Two police officers from the Emergency Services Unit were on patrol on Martin Luther King Drive near Kearney Avenue at 2:30 a.m. when they saw a man holding what is being described as a 6-foot, 2-by-2, fence post with a sharpened edge, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino said.

The incident occurred yards away from a sidewalk memorial for Lawrence Campbell, the Jersey City man who killed Police Officer Melvin Santiago outside the Walgreens at Communipaw Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard just after 4 a.m. Sunday. The memorial for Campbell has been removed.

When the ESU officers ordered the man to drop the post he attacked the police vehicle with the sharpened fence post and threw it through the passenger side window, striking one of the officers in the head, Rubino said. The officer, who has not been identified, suffered a head injury.

Rubino said the man, who also has not been identified, then jumped onto the vehicle's running board, reached into the vehicle and wrestled with the officers for control of a police rifle in an attempt to disarm the officer and pull the firearm out of the window.

In the struggle over the firearm, the officer fired a shot into the passenger side door, striking the man, who then fell off the running board, Rubino said.

The officers jumped out of the vehicle and ordered the man to the ground, but he refused, Rubino said, adding that the man reached into his waistband.

The man ignored the officers' commands to show his hands and one of the officers shot him.

The man is now in stable condition at the Barnabas Health-Jersey City Medical Center after undergoing surgery this morning, JCMC spokesman Mark Rabson said. The two Jersey City Police Officers are also being treated, Rubino said.

The scene of the incident was quiet, but tense this morning as neighborhood residents spoke about the escalating violence.

"It's going to get worse," said William Banks, 59, who lives in the area. "Be aware of where you're standing because it could be dangerous."

Evette McCalister, 43, who also lives in the neighborhood, said "There's going to be a war out here. I go in the house before it gets dark. It's sad."

The incident is being investigated by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office homicide unit, which is standard protocol whenever there is a police-involved shooting, Rubino said.

Link - JJ

Just heard a short report on 1010 WINS that
a suspect has been wounded and three cops were injured this morning.

They reported that a suspect on MLK Drive was carrying a stick or javelin-type weapon and attacked an occupied police vehicle - the stick apparently went through a police truck's door. Police returned fire and wounded the suspect. The suspect is in stable condition. No word on police conditions.