36°
The body of Michael Richardson, 33, was found on the ground of the BP station at Broadway and Summer Street, in a neighborhood rife with drugs and gangs, shortly after 3 p.m., authorities said.
He'd been shot in the head, said detectives who were searching for a juvenile who reportedly fled the scene.
Richardson was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes and city Police Chief Ibrahim Baycora said.
They didn't say whether they'd caught or identified any suspects.
The shooting was the 119th in Paterson this year, one of the highest in recent memory.
Richardson's death was Paterson's 26th homicide of 2020, topping a recent high of 25 in 2014 and, before that, 23 in 1993, records show.
Of those deaths, 17 occurred in the 4th Ward, which have become a battlefield of drug-dealing gangs and teenage hotheads, authorities said.
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said the gun violence plaguing not just his city but the entire country has been fueled, in large part, by the coronavirus pandemic.
Silk City police, who've seized more than 200 firearms this year, have been working with the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office and the state Attorney General's Office to try and stem the bloodshed, he said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights and receive free news updates.
