Three men were shot in the leg and injured in an incident at the Vermella East apartments on the site of the former Marshall Clark Bat Factory on Passaic Avenue in Kearny in the early-morning hours of Monday, Aug. 7, but none of the injuries are life-threatening, and it appears the incident is isolated, police said.
Reports say prior to the shooting, sometime after midnight, the Kearny Police Department received a call about a loud party that was taking place in a common outdoor area of the complex. Police say they broke up the party and it appears a good number of people in attendance all later congregated in one of the apartments.
Then, at around 1 a.m., police received a 911 call of shots fired.
Upon arrival, police say the found two people suffering from gunshot wounds to the leg. Those two were transported to hospital for treatment. One other victim, who was also shot in the leg, self-transported to a hospital for treatment.
At present, two of the three victims have been released.
Police are continuing to investigate the scene and have requested a search warrant for the apartment where the shooting reportedly originated.
Police say they believe all of the victims are known to each other (though it is not yet clear exactly how) and there is no reason for concern — the shooting was not considered a random act of violence.
A source tells The Observer the apartment in question was originally leased by a former New Yorker and it was subsequently sublet to someone else from New York.
The Kearny PD’s Detective Bureau is investigating the shooting and urges anyone with information to contact them immediately at (201) 998-1313 or tips@kearnynjpd.org. If sending an email, you may request anonymity.
Please check back for more updates to this developing story.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.