After a deadly mass shooting in Newark, New Jersey, over the weekend, officials are asking the shooters to turn themselves in to the police and are offering a $10,000 reward.
No arrests have been made in the shocking act that has shaken Newark, a city that has bucked the trend of murders in recent years. After reaching 81 murders in 2022, the city has reported only 38 murders so far this year.
Authorities haven’t said if the shooting was gang-related and have no information regarding a possible motive.
“This past weekend was a dark weekend in Essex County, in general,” Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II told reporters Monday.
According to Essek County prosecutors, 21-year-old Kiyah Mae Scott and 10-year-old Jordan Garcia were killed in the violence. Three other people, including Garcia’s 11-year-old brother, Masi Rogers, 19 and Sheppard Miller, 60, were injured.
“It’s clear on what needs to happen, that these perpetrators need to turn themselves in immediately — before the sun goes down tonight, would be preferable — that you turn yourselves in as soon as possible,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said, adding, “The community is on alert, on lookout, and we will make sure that justice is done.”
Surveillance footage captured the timeline of events on Saturday, where a group could be seen outside a liquor store when two gunmen opened fire.
Garcia and Scott were taken to University Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. Garcia’s 11-year-old brother remains hospitalized in stable condition along with 60-year-old Miller.
19-year-old Rogers remains in critical condition, according to Stephens.
Scott’s mother said her daughter had merely gone out to pick something up from the store when she was shot. The 21-year-old was a mother and left behind a young son.
“Kiyah was very outgoing, loving to her family and friends,” her mother, Annette Ryan, said. “She loved her son dearly. Very smart, knowledgeable. She had a lot of wisdom. She was very smart.”
Ryan’s latest heartbreak comes seven years after she had to bury another daughter, who she lost to cancer.
“I am trying to be strong for her baby,” Ryan said. “I am just concerned about him. He loves his mom.”
Ryan did have a message for her daughters’ killers.
“You reap what you sow. Everybody has family. You me be the one that may be sitting in my seat one day – your family. Your child,” she said.
