3 shootings leave 2 dead in just 4 hours, in Trenton

TRENTON — Three shootings in the city late Sunday afternoon and evening left five people wounded and two people dead. In one, dozens of shots were fired, authorities say.

The first shooting happened around 5 p.m. at Martin Luther King Park in Trenton, where nearly 40 shots were fired at a large group on a basketball court, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri. Two males were shot in the torso and hospitalized, and one of them males, identified as Frederick Mason, 20 of Trenton died, Onofri said.

Connor Ilchert, a spokesman for Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora told New Jersey 101.5 police chased an ATV that left the scene onto Route 29 but broke off the chase for safety reasons.

A woman had been in a large crowd watching a fight between two females around 7 p.m. on Hoffman Avenue in the city's West Ward when someone walked up behind her and shot her in the head, Onofri said. The prosecutor said the woman was hospitalized and remained in critical condition on Monday morning.

Update, 6:30 p.m.: The woman shot int he back of the head has since died.

Several people were shot around 9 p.m. when a car drove down Garfield Ave firing numerous rounds, Onofri said. The Trentonian was first to report the chase.

In that incident, one person was struck in the hand, a second was struck in the leg, and a third was struck in the head, Onofri said. The body of a male was found in the backyard of the one of the houses on Garfield Avenue and was pronounced dead at the scene, Onofri said. The prosecutor identified the man as Dabree Brannon, 30, of Trenton.

Ilchert said Gusciora would not comment on the shootings until a press conference on Monday afternoon. The mayor told the Trentonian in a text message that "we lost our humanity" and speculated some of the incidents may be "retaliatory."

"And emotions have just boiled over today," the mayor told the paper.

Onofri said no arrests have been made in any of the shootings.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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