NEWARK, N.J. (AP/1010 WINS) — A New Jersey man was taken into custody Wednesday, officials said, a day after he allegedly shot and wounded two Newark police officers as they tried to question him about a previous shooting.
Kendall Howard, 30, was caught at the same apartment building at Van Velsor Place and Chancellor Avenue just after 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
At a news conference Wednesday, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II didn’t provide details on how Howard was able to evade capture overnight in the six-story apartment building, which is near Newark’s Weequahic Park and a little over a mile from Newark Liberty International Airport.
Howard was charged with two counts of attempted murder of two Newark police officers, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Prosecutors had warned that Howard, of East Orange, was considered “armed and dangerous” as the hours-long manhunt played out late Tuesday into Wednesday.
The Essex County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshall’s Service had offered a combined reward of $30,000 for information leading to his arrest. It wasn't immediately clear if someone tipped off police to his whereabouts.
Stephens said in the news conference Wednesday that the seven-hour period before his arrest involved "not only a search, but there were residents in that building who had to be evacuated."
"It's an 80-some unit building, I'm led to believe, so that takes a number of hours in and of itself," he added.
Frightened residents were forced to remain inside as police blocked off nearby streets to search for the gunman. One woman said she hid in her car for hours.
Police had arrived at the apartment building early Tuesday afternoon after a citizen called and said he recognized a man shown on a flyer who had been involved in an Oct. 28 shooting, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said Tuesday.
When they arrived, they encountered the 30-year-old Howard in the parking lot as they were exiting the building, police said. After an altercation, Howard allegedly pulled a gun and fired at both officers, injuring one in the leg and the other in the shoulder.
Both officers are expected to make full recoveries, Stephens added Wednesday. One was expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday and the other within the next few days, he said.
Stephens and Baraka praised the efforts of citizens who aided the injured officers, particularly a woman who got out of her car and tried to assist one of the officers, who was bleeding.
Baraka said Wednesday that Newark residents have shown "over and over again that they're willing to put themselves in the way of police and harm."
A video taken by a bystander and posted online appeared to show someone helping an officer off the ground and soon after, others in uniform helping the limping officer into a car.
Elijah Moore was in his bedroom when he heard gunshots ring through his neighborhood. He immediately moved away from the window after hearing what he said were “a lot of shots,” possibly more than a dozen.
“I didn’t know what to do, if they were getting into my building,” said Moore, 33.
He turned on the television where he learned more about the shooting. His panic subsided minutes later, he said, when he saw police swarming his neighborhood.
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