A neighborhood dispute led to gunfire early Sunday at an annual all-night arts festival in Trenton, N.J., leaving one dead _ a man suspected of being a gunman _ and 22 injured.
Police were in the process of shutting down the Art All Night event at the Roebling Wire Works warehouse during escalating altercations between several visitors when at least two men started shooting around 2:45 a.m. Police said there was gunfire inside and outside warehouse.
About 1,000 people were still at the event when the shooting began, triggering a stampede of panicked patrons.
Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said two men were arrested and that a 33-year-old man was shot dead by police. He said a "neighborhood beef" was behind the shooting.
At a news conference, authorities identified the dead man as Tahaij Wells, who had been on parole since February on homicide-related charges.
Amir Armstrong, 23, who is in critical condition with unspecified gunshot injuries, was charged with weapons offenses, including having a handgun with an extended capacity magazine. A third unidentified suspect was also hospitalized in critical condition with gunshot wounds, authorities said.
The violence was presaged on social media Saturday, said Jerell Blakeley, a just-elected councilman-at-large, who pointed to a Facebook post that said: "Please. Please. Please. Do Not Go to the Art All Night. They will be shooting it up."
The head of the New Jersey police union said the shooters fired with "no care for innocent people around them."
"Officers engaged the active shooters to stop the senseless violence," Patrick Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association, said in a statement posted on Twitter.
"Sounds like it was some sort of dispute _ we will bring the full weight of law and justice against them," said Gov. Phil Murphy.
Mayor-elect Reed Gusciori said in an interview that the shooting "appears to be a turf war" between neighborhood gangs.
"It's a concern," he said. "We are about to enter the summer and we have to change the mindset of Trenton so that people don't solve things with violence, particularly gun violence."
Before the shootings, there were several physical altercations inside and outside the venue, and police instructed organizers to shut down the event. Police had begun to disperse the crowd, though many were loitering, Onofri said.
He said 17 people were shot, and several were in critical condition. Others were injured in the chaos and panic that followed the shooting.
"There were people trampling other people, cars hitting other cars," said Gennie Darisme, who was getting ready to leave the festival when she heard shots and saw people running.
Onofri said the extent of the officers' involvement in any shootings was under investigation. "Multiple" guns were recovered at the festival scene, he said, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was at the site.
