Newark police shot a man on Monday night after struggling with him behind the wheel of an allegedly stolen SUV, according to New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office.
As of Tuesday, the man was in critical condition, authorities said.
According to a statement from Platkin’s office, two Newark officers were in the process of detaining a man seated on the passenger side of the SUV when a second man exited a nearby store and attempted to drive the vehicle away. The officers struggled to remove the driver from the SUV when it accelerated backward and then forward, the AG’s office said. One of the police officers fired his weapon, striking the driver, said Platkin’s office.
In a separate emailed statement, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the man had been attempting to escape.
“Police officers tried to stop him,” said Baraka. “A struggle ensued and shots were fired. During the incident, the vehicle smashed into a police cruiser and then Hawthorne Elementary School.”
The mayor added that the officers were treated for minor injuries and the passenger was arrested. He called the incident a “tragedy” and “traumatic for all involved.”
“Its effect ripples out through the community,” he said. “Our focus will be on providing comfort, relief and recovery to all those affected and to deter the kind of unlawful actions that lead to these kinds of incidents.”
Platkin’s office said it’s investigating the shooting, as it does for all shootings involving police in New Jersey.
Newark has been under a federal consent decree since 2016, after the U.S. Department of Justice uncovered a pattern of civil rights abuses and misconduct by officers. The consent decree was partially lifted earlier this summer.