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A manhunt was under way for 26-year-old ex-convict Marque Edwards Jr. of Teaneck (above, left) and a group of waiting accomplices who police said were caught on surveillance video, Detective Capt. Tim Torell told CLIFFVIEW PILOT early this evening.
An arrest warrant charges Edwards with first-degree attempted murder.
Police found Sule Imo Ouhuru, 36 (inset, above), on the floor of the other side of the takeout counter at Jade Lee Kitchen on West Palisade Avenue just after 10 p.m., Torell said.
He was bleeding heavily from several stab wounds “in many different areas of his body,” the captain said.
“It was one of the worst stabbings I’ve ever seen where the person survived,” he said.
City police even notified the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that they could have a possible homicide on their hands.
Four employees were the only others in the restaurant in the city’s west side shopping district at the time, Torell said. A woman Ouhuru was with was waiting outside in Edwards’ car, he said.
Edwards — who is Ouhuru’s former girlfriend’s new boyfriend — “either passed by and saw him or knew he was there,” the captain told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
At first, Edwards forced his way into Ouhuru’s car, thinking his target was inside, Torell said. When he realized it wasn’t, he “left the woman unharmed and ran over to the restaurant,” the captain said.
As the horrified staff looked on, “Edwards began viciously stabbing Ouhuru,” Torell said.
“Edwards then ran out of the store and into a waiting vehicle with several other occupants in it,” he said. “It then fled from the area.”
Several area surveillance cameras captured the getaway, the captain said.
“Just like I’m urging Edwards to surrender, I’m strongly urging them to come in to talk to our detectives,” he said. “We do not want this to escalate any further.”
Englewood police in February said Ouhuru held the woman against her will, fired the shots with a .45-caliber carbine, then took off in her car. A manhunt ended nearly three months later, when he turned himself in to police. The woman, who has two children with Ouhuru, lives in the Rock Creek complex in the city’s 2nd Ward.
Ouhuru was in critical but stable condition at Englewood Medical Center. Torell said he’s expected to survive.
“A lot of credit should go to a female companion of his, along with the responding patrol officers and medics,” the captain said. “They were able to slow the bleeding down just enough to be able to get him into the hospital and rushed into surgery with a chance of survival.
“It was that serious.”
Anyone who spots Edwards is urged to dial 911.
“He should be considered armed and not be approached,” Torell said.
Anyone with information about the case or the whereabouts of Edwards is asked to call Englewood police: (201) 568-2711
All calls will be kept confidential, Torell said.
MUGSHOT (Edwards): Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD
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