Man kicks in bedroom door, shoots teen in torso

Monday, August 31, 2009
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A 17-year-old in a bedroom with his girlfriend was shot on the right side of his torso by a man who burst into the room Saturday morning, reports said. The teen, a resident of the Ocean Avenue building, was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center for the gunshot wound that exited his back and was listed in stable condition, reports said.

A 22-year-old resident at the apartment where the teen was shot told police a man showed up at the apartment at around 9:17 a.m. asking for the couple, reports said.

When she told the man the boy was in a bedroom with his girlfriend and she couldn't enter because the bedroom door was locked, the man kicked in the front door of the apartment and put a gun to her face, reports said.

The intruder then kicked in the bedroom door and shot the victim before fleeing, reports said. The victim's girlfriend told police said she escaped through a bedroom window when she saw a gun coming through the door, reports said.

The 22-year-old told police there had been a dispute between the dreadlocked shooter, dressed in a black sweater, with tattoos on his arms and back, and the victim and the girlfriend over a watch, reports said.

Anyone with information about this incident should call (201) 547-JAIL.