Over Twenty People Injured at Art All Night Festival in the US

Photo from trenton.homicidewatch.org website

At least 22 people, including a 13-year-old boy, were injured in a shooting at an all-night arts festival in Trenton, New Jersey, in the United States, BBC reported.

Four of the injured, including the teenager, are in critical condition.

“Preliminary investigation reveals that multiple individuals attending the Art All Night event opened fire within the venue. … Multiple weapons have been recovered,” Angelo Onofri, prosecutor for Mercer County, told a news conference.

“It absolutely could’ve been worse given the confined space and the number of shots that appear to have been fired,” Onofri said, adding that about a thousand people were in the area at the time.”It’s a massive crime scene. There’s a lot of people that are injured. There are a lot of interviews that needed to be conducted.”

Police say at least two men opened fire at around 3a.m. local time as around a thousand people were enjoying the local art, music and food.

One of the gunmen was fatally shot by a police officer and a second suspect was arrested.  The motive for the attack is not yet clear. The shooting appears to be the result of a “neighborhood beef.”

This was the 12th year of the Trenton Art All Night Festival, an event that raises money for local artists. It began on Saturday afternoon and was due to run until Sunday afternoon, but has now been canceled, the organizers announced on Facebook.

“We’re still processing much of this and we don’t have many answers at this time but please know that our staff, our volunteers, our artists and musicians all seem to be healthy and accounted for. Our sincere, heartfelt sympathies are with those who were injured. 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,” the organizers wrote.

The New Jersey shooting occurs amid a debate about U.S. gun laws that was given fresh impetus by the massacre in February of 17 students at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

“It is a fact that our cities as well as our suburbs throughout America are experiencing an increase in public shootings and public unrest such as this,” Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson told the news conference. “This isn’t just a random act of violence. This is a public health issue.”

Authorities are also investigating an attempted carjacking that occurred in a nearby alley shortly after the shooting, Onofri said. It is unclear whether the two incidents are connected.