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"If not for the steel plate, the round could have gone through the machine and struck an innocent victim," South Hackensack Police Detective Sgt. James Donatello said.
The 6:30 p.m. shooting on Sunday, April 28, was another in a series of incidents that have recently drawn a massive law enforcement response to the all-ages Urban Air Trampoline & Adventure Park just off westbound Route 80.
Surveillance video shows the youths from Paterson inside and then running from the booth, covering their ears, after the shot was fired, Donatello said.
One of them was fumbling with his waistband, the sergeant said.
Police signed delinquency complaints charging the boys with illegal weapons possession before sending both to the Juvenile Detention Center in Teterboro.
It was the second time the older boy has been caught with a gun, law enforcement sources confirmed.
The incident also follows two large fights three days apart at the South Hackensack Urban Air.
One drew State Police, Bergen County sheriff's officers and neighboring police departments on April 20.
Another involved 10 combatants and required help from surrounding towns.
South Hackensack police earlier this year arrested a parent who assaulted an 11-year-old girl at the facility, Donatello noted.
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