49°
Howard was arrested Wednesday morning by Newark police on two attempted murder charges, sources with direct knowledge of the incident say. Details surrounding his arrest were not immediately clear.
Howard had been wanted in connection with another shooting from last Friday when police received a 911 call from a civilian who reported seeing him in the area of an apartment building at 25 Van Velsor Place, authorities said.
The officers found Howard after pulling into a parking lot behind the building near Chancellor Avenue shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said.
“They stopped him to talk to him and to identify him, and a violent interaction occurred,” Stephens told reporters at a news conference.
Howard then pulled a gun and shot both officers at close range, authorities said at the news conference.
One officer was grazed on the neck, with the bullet lodging in his shoulder. The other was shot twice in the leg, authorities said.
The officers returned fire as Howard ducked back into the building.
Video obtained by Daily Voice shows the first officer on his back and holding his neck next to a large splotch of blood in the street. The front of his vest is soaked in blood.
A passerby then stops her car, gets out and learns what happened.
With no regard for her own safety, she retrieves a large piece of cloth from the trunk of her sedan, rolls it up and presses it against the wounded public servant's neck.
Another officer takes over while her colleagues draw their weapons and scan the rooftops as the civilians take cover.
Both injured officers were rushed to University Hospital by their colleagues, law enforcement sources told Daily Voice.
The officer who was struck in the neck was reported in critical condition. The other was stable.
A huge contingent of colleagues joined loved ones at the hospital, where Newark Fraternal Order of Police President Jeff Weber said the as-yet-unidentified male officers were in stable condition.
Weber praised the officers as well as those who, he said, did "a tremendous job" getting them to the hospital.
Police cleared all of the apartments and combed the building top to bottom but couldn't find Howard, who records show has a history of criminal offenses.
“At some point in time he must have exited the building,” Newark Public Safety Director Fritz G. Fragé said.
The area was shut down and residents were urged to remain in their homes. City schools were also locked down as a precaution.
Law enforcement officers including federal officers who work downtown, New Jersey State Police and a SWAT team converged on the scene. Also responding were Essex County sheriff's officers, detectives from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and NJ TRANSIT police, among others.
An NJSP helicopter hovered overhead the ordinarily quiet neighborhood in the state's largest city.
At one point, just before dark, tactical units appeared about to take action, collecting equipment from one of their vehicles. Police also expanded the restricted area, pushing reporters and spectators a little less than a block up.
Onlookers suspected someone may have been holed up in a building on the street, but that couldn't be confirmed.
Some civilians said they heard at least a dozen shots before seeing both wounded officers.
A vehicle was also shot up and burst into flames that were extinguished by city firefighters, a responder said.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin attended the news conference in Newark, where he requested "the public's participation in helping identify and locate Mr. Howard."
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the injured officers and all the officers handling the Newark attack," New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association Patrick Colligan said in a statement. "This level of violence must be stopped and condemned by everyone."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Lower Merion-Narberth and receive free news updates.
