By The Diary
05 Oct 2024, 00:52 AM EDT
Two people were shot and one of them died yesterday midday in a shooting at the Ramada Inn hotel in Fairfield, New Jersey.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said the shooting was caused by a third person around 12:30 p.m. Friday inside the hotel on Two Bridges Road off I-80, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said. ABC News.
The two injured people were taken to a local hospital, where one of them died an hour later, he said. NBC News. The other victim was reported in critical condition and was undergoing surgery, authorities said.
Police are tracking the gunman who fled the scene, but authorities stressed that “there is no ongoing threat to this community.”
The motive for the shooting is unclear. Authorities say it appeared the victims were hotel workers. They did not say what link they have or what their connection to the gunman might be.
Investigators locked down the property and guests were not allowed to return to their rooms. “It’s a little shocking that this happened and no one knocked on our door to let us know what was happening,” said an unidentified hotel guest.
She added that from her room she could hear screams, but she was not sure which floor they were coming from. Another man said the hotel has been on police radar for various problems for years, without specifying details.
No arrests have been made or suspects identified. Anyone with information should call 911. All communications are strictly confidential.
In recent months there have been several serious crimes at lodging sites in the tri-state area. In July two brothers were arrested as suspects in a savage machete attack that left another man injured outside a hotel in the Nassau County of Long Island, New York.
Days before, J. Michael Cline, founder of the movie ticketing platform Fandango, died after falling into a vacuum on Tuesday at a hotel in Midtown New York.
In April, Victoria Soto was arrested and charged as a suspect in the death of Jeremy Robinson, the victim of several gunshots at a motel in Albany, the capital of New York. Also that month, four Hispanics were arrested after authorities seized half a million dollars’ worth of cocaine at a motel in New Jersey, in a weeks-long federal investigation involving the DEA and the FBI.
In February, an Ecuadorian mother was found beaten to death in a Manhattan hotel. A suspect was later arrested in Arizona and linked to attacks on several women in at least four states in the country.
In January, a man was killed in a shootout with police at a motel in South Brunswick, New Jersey. He was suspected of several serious crimes, including the robbery of a Brooklyn (NYC) bishop during a religious service in 2022.
In November, two people died and three were hospitalized amid a possible group overdose at a motel in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In May 2023, a 16-month-old baby was found dead in a motel in New York from an overdose after consuming the fentanyl of her parents, who were charged with homicide due to criminal negligence and endangering the welfare of a minor.