NJ Cops Aug18 | Page 58

Anatomy of the Trenton arts festival shooting: Part 1 As the story develops, the one certainty is that the law enforcement response was a job well done It’s been two months since a gang-related active shooter situation involving multiple suspects dramatically terminated Trenton’s annual Art All Night Festival. Yet the investigation continues: Surveillance and bodycam videos are being analyzed frame by frame; ballistics tests are being meticulously conducted; witnesses are being interviewed; and reports are being processed. It’s a long and arduous process that involves multiple state and federal agencies all crossing t’s and dotting i’s. For now, the focus is on the heroic and selfless actions of the law enforcement officers who rushed into an unknown active shooter situation against an oncoming stampede of approximately 1,000 panicking festivalgoers. Some officers confronted suspects, while others scooped up wounded victims and transported them to the hospital in their police cruisers. And by the time it was over, all things considered, their response can be cleanly and completely filed under “Job Well Done.” “[Officers] acted incredibly professionally,” says Angelo Onofri, the Mercer County prosecutor who is overseeing the investigation. “They acted quickly. And they acted decisively. “The Art All Night event had been going on for 12 years,” he notes. “There never had been any issue from any type of perspective. The festival features food, stages with various live music acts — jazz to hip-hop and everything in between — and a lot of performance art, fire tossing, etc. It’s always been very peaceful and well attended and something the Trenton community looks forward to every year.” But then Onofri paints the picture of an event that quickly deteriorated. “This year, right around midnight, it started changing from a family event to something a little rowdier,” he recalls. “At that point, the officers on scene went to the event organizer and said ‘It’s starting to get out of hand, let’s lock the building and start to get everyone out.’ They tried to corral people away from the area with an announcement saying that the festival would reopen the next morning, but the crowd stuck around.” It started with some pushing, and then gunshots rang out. Security camera footage from an adjacent building captured crowds rushing out of the building, as police raced against the tide to confront the unknown danger.