2 in critical condition, 2 in custody after possible gang-related New Jersey mall shooting

JERSEY CITY — Two people were shot at Newport Centre mall on Friday night and two more were in custody in a possible act of gang-related violence, officials said. 

The two victims were taken to Jersey City Medical Center with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and arm, Mayor Steve Fulop said during a press conference. They were in critical but stable condition. No "friendly person" was struck by gunfire, Police Chief Michael Kelly said. 

Authorities did not confirm if one of the people in custody was the shooter. Police first received a report of a fight in the food court and then the shots were fired, Kelly said. 

When asked if the shooting was gang-related Kelly said, "It's a possibility."

"We know some of the players here, we know some of the victims," the chief said, "and we certainly think that they weren’t up to anything good."

One of the victims, Jaleel Holmes, had an arrest warrant out over the last two days for a shooting at Grant Avenue in Jersey City, Fulop said. Authorities did not name the two people in custody or state if any charges were filed. 

The mall was expected to be closed for several hours during the investigation.

NorthJersey.com reporter inside the chaos 

Scott Fallon, a reporter for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network New Jersey, had taken the day off and was at the mall with his wife, Dawn, and daughter, Emma, when the shooting happened around 6 p.m.

To celebrate Emma's sixth birthday, the family had attended a screening of “A Dog’s Way Home.” They were in the movie theater, which shares space with the food court on the mall’s third level, when he heard gunfire.

“I heard a thump,” he said. “It may have been just one shot. I heard screaming and then an avalanche of people started running from the food court.”

Fallon had been on his way to the men’s room.

“I immediately turned and ran like hell back to where Dawn and Emma were,” he said. “I said, ‘There’s been a shooting.’ I grabbed Emma, held her in my arms and we ran through some exit doors into a hallway behind the theaters.”

They huddled there with a scared Swedish tourist named Ali who had become separated from his friends in the panic that erupted after the shooting, Fallon said. Fallon called the police and 911, and they waited for the authorities to arrive.

After about 20 minutes, he said, he heard footsteps and the sounds from police radios in a service stairwell off the hallway.

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“I knew it was the police, but I was afraid,” Fallon said. “I didn’t want to startle them. I told Ali, ‘Get your hands up.’ I told Dawn to move out of the shadow where she was holding Emma at the time. ‘Move into the light.’ I took my hands out and I yelled through the door, ‘There’s civilians here!’ and they said, ‘Open the door.’

“I opened the door slowly,” he said. “They had their guns drawn. They came in, they knew we weren’t a threat, and they escorted us down the stairwell with their guns drawn.”

They emerged into the frigid January cold and into a large crowd of people who also had been evacuated from the mall. “People were on their cell phones,” he said. “I thought people would be more panicked. I thought people wouldn’t be around the entrance. I wanted to get as far away as possible from there. I’m actually still feeling uneasy being a block or two away.”

Witnesses inside the mall share their stories

Adnane Jaballah, of Jersey City, said he heard the shooting.

"From nowhere we start hearing shots," Jaballah said. "It was like four or five shots. Everybody go down and people surrounding everywhere, everybody throwing everything."

Steben Ramos was working at T-Mobile when he saw commotion in the hallway.

“People we’re running and there was some panic,” Ramos said. 

Security guards then came and told everyone to stay put. “Close all doors, stay inside and get to the back,” was the order, Ramos said. He did. He cowered behind a desk. 

He estimated the lockdown lasted for about 30 minutes before security came around again and said they could leave. Ramos did not hear any gunshots, but learned through social media that there was a shooting on the third floor in the food court.

Leslie Armengolt, 28, was working in The Children’s Place on the first floor when she saw people running. She said people became frantic once they were in lockdown. 

“People started panicking. They were worried about their other family members and wondering if they were OK,” she said. 

Armengolt said the Newport mall is a safe place and she never worried about her safety until Friday night. “It’s quite shocking,” she said.

Destiny Gonzalez, 21, was also working at The Children’s Place when mayhem ensued. 

“I heard a pop, pop,pop,” she said, although at first she didn’t equate the sound with gunfire. “Then I saw people running.” 

Security came around and ordered a lockdown, so the store manager pulled down the metal gate and the employees and customers moved to the back of the store and waited. About 15 minutes later, management got a call and everyone was told they could leave, she said. 

Janet Lee, 35, of Jersey City, said she entered Newport Centre through the JCPenney store. She and a friend had entered the mall and were headed toward an escalator to go upstairs when they heard three or four gunshots.

“I saw a stampede of people just sort of flooding toward me and the exits, and I pieced together that there was a shooting,” she said. “I told my friend, ‘Let’s run.’”

They managed to get out safely amid a scrum of panicked shoppers. Lee said she and her friend didn’t linger and headed straight home. “I just wanted to get out of there,” she said.

Ricky Rivera also heard the popping sounds.

"People started to scatter like crazy," Rivera said. "The employees took my girl to the back room. I went running after her because I didn’t know what was going on, so it was a little scary.” 

Video posted to social media shows people rushing out of the door of the mall near the Zinburger.

The mall is a three-level, 1.2 million-square-foot building near the PATH station that attracts 13 million shoppers annually, according to its website.  

Staff writers William Lamb and Anthony Zurita contributed to this article.