It began when no fewer than seven shots were fired at the busy intersection of Park Avenue and East 22nd Street, cutting down one of the men, shortly after 6:30 a.m. Oct. 1.
Police found him on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi confirmed.
He was pronounced dead a short time later at nearby St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, they said.
The second man and a 42-year-old woman were shot around 12:30 p.m. on Highland Street near Park Place, two miles north of the first shooting, Valdes and Abbassi said in a brief release.
He was pronounced dead of multiple gunshots at St. Joe’s a short time later. She was admitted with a gunshot wound.
The fifth weekend shooting victim in Paterson, city resident Mary Taylor, was hospitalized in critical condition after responders said she was shot in the head during an apparent drive-by near the corner of Van Houten and Cianci Street outside Lou Costello Park shortly before 9:30 p.m.
Police briefly chased the suspected vehicle – a burgundy Hyundai – before the pursuit was terminated out of safety concerns.
Passaic County sheriff’s officers found the abandoned vehicle with shell casings inside on North 7th just off the corner of Jefferson Street a short time later.
It had been reported stolen out of Passaic and bore a license plate reported stolen out of Brooklyn, authorities said.
That brought this year’s homicide total in Paterson to 12 compared with 21 at this same time last year.
Valdes and Abbassi didn't say whether any suspects had been arrested or identified in any of the shootings.
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