14-year-old male charged with murder after police officer shot to death in Newark, NJ; another officer is wounded

A 14-year-old male was charged with murder and attempted murder after a police officer was shot to death Friday in Newark, New Jersey, WNYW-TV reported.

Another officer was wounded, the station said; five individuals — including the 14-year-old — were placed in custody.

‘We need to focus laser-sharp on trying to find the reason why this 14-year-old was in the situation that he was. He had a gun and felt he could use it against the police. That’s a crazy situation.’

The Newark officers were shot just after 6:30 p.m. in the area of Broadway and Carteret, WNYW reported, adding that they were taken to a hospital, where 26-year-old Officer Joseph Azcona, a five-year-veteran, was pronounced dead Saturday morning. Azcona’s family, including his five brothers, were by his side when he died, the station said.

Azcona and the other officer were in the area to investigate a group of people they believed were carrying illegal guns, the New York Times reported, citing Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II.

The officers approached the group in a patrol car and were hit with gunfire, the paper said. Azcona was struck while still in the vehicle, Stephens told the Times, adding that the other officer appeared to have been struck while outside the patrol vehicle. The second officer’s injuries are not life-threatening, the paper added.

Police now are trying to determine why a 14-year-old boy had a gun and thought he could use it against police, WNYW reported.

“We need to focus laser-sharp on trying to find the reason why this 14-year-old was in the situation that he was,” Stephens said during a Saturday news conference, the Times reported. “He had a gun and felt he could use it against the police. That’s a crazy situation. That’s one that cannot go unchecked.”

Police have not released the name of the 14-year-old — who also was charged with possessing illegal weapons — or the names of the other arrested individuals, WNYW said.

“These are officers who got up yesterday morning to do their job, to go outside and make sure our streets were safe,” Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark said at the news conference, according to the Times.

You can view a video report here about the fatal shooting.

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