Authorities said a number of fistfights broke out at an all-night New Jersey arts festival and the event was on the verge of being shut down when gunfire erupted, killing a suspect and injuring 22 other people, some critically.
Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said it appears that several Trenton-area gangs had a dispute at the venue, the Roebling Market, and multiple suspects began shooting at each other.
Onofri said the suspect who was killed, 33-year-old Tahaij Wells, was recently released from prison and was on parole since February 2018 on homicide-related charges.
He said another suspect, 23-year-old Amir Armstrong, is in stable condition and charged with a weapons offense. It was not immediately known if Armstrong had an attorney who could comment.
Onofri said three of the four critically injured people have been upgraded to stable condition; the one remaining critically injured man "is believed to be a suspect in this matter."
Shooting broke out at the Art All Night Festival at about 2:45 a.m., authorities said.
Many of the injured were treated for gunshot wounds, including a 13-year-old boy, Onofri said.
Trenton resident Irvin Higgenbotham told WHYY he was at the festival looking through the art galleries when he heard gunshots.
"All of a sudden — Pow! Boom!" he said. "I didn't realize I got shot until I laid on the ground, then I heard another shot — pow pow, pow, pow, pow! Then i see the blood leaking out of my leg."
On Sunday, there was crime scene tape surrounding the site of the old warehouse building that now shares a parking lot with a supermarket, bank and laundry facility.
Authorities say that about 1,000 people were in the area when the shooting started. Many of them ran for the exits when they heard gunfire.
"It reminded me of a Vegas situation where it was just shooting and no one really knew where it was coming from but people just knew they had to get away," said Dioh Williams, a hip hop artist who attended the festival for several years.
Williams was treated at St. Francis Medical Center for a knee injury he said he sustained when he was trampled in the crowd.
Ernie Rivas has owned a shop near the site of the shooting for 17 years and said he came back from the beach Sunday morning when he heard what happened.
“I’ve never seen this happen. It’s bad, I feel bad, especially on Father’s Day,” Rivas said.
Theresa Brown said she’s been volunteering at Art All Night for 12 years and has never seen or heard of violence like this. She said she was leaving from her volunteer shift around 2 a.m. and heard “pop, pop, pop.”
“I thought it was a car backfiring,” she said.
She returned to the scene around 7 a.m. and saw the police.
Art All Night Trenton began Saturday afternoon and was scheduled to conclude Sunday afternoon. The remainder of the festival has been cancelled.
“We’re very shocked. We’re deeply saddened. Our hearts ache and our eyes are blurry but our dedication and resolve to building a better Trenton through community, creativity and inspiration will never fade. Not tonight. Not ever,” festival organizers posted on social media Sunday.
Midday Sunday, Gov. Phil Murphy and other elected officials attend a prayer service for the victims of the shooting. He was planning to meet privately with some of the victims later in the day.