Shooting and street brawl puts Hillside, NJ school on lockdown

Shots fired during a large fight near Hillside High School after classes had been dismissed for the day led to a lockdown for students still in the building Monday afternoon.

The fight took place near the intersection of Liberty Ave and Ryan Street around 3 p.m., according to Hillside Police Chief Vincent Ricciardi. A lockdown was ordered while police responded to the fight a block from the high school.

Three taken into custody

The shooter, a 17-year-old male from Bloomfield, was taken into custody along with a 17-year-old male from Irvington and 16-year-old male from Hillside.

The gun, a shell casing and other undisclosed evidence were found by police, officials said.

The lockdown was lifted around 5 p.m., according to Ricciardi.

The chief praised his officers along with the Union County Sheriff's K-9 and crime scene units for quickly locating the gun and suspects without anyone being injured.

"I am very proud of our Hillside officers and detectives. They did a truly professional job in bringing this incident to swift resolution. It took a high level of skill, experience, and adherence to their training to be able to make these arrests," Ricciardi said.

The chief asked anyone with information about the incident to call 973-926-5800.

Second lockdown of the day

Hillside High School was the second New Jersey to be put on lockdown Monday.

A man spotted walking near Crest Memorial School in Wildwood Crest around 8 a.m. prompted a school lockdown after his attire was mistaken for body armor. The man was later found wearing a weighted vest as part of his training for a marathon.

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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