Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: COPS WERE NEAR SHOOTING SCENE

rb-shooting-122314-500x375-2087312A view east along West Westside Avenue, the scene of Tuesday night’s shooting, in which a parked car was struck by two bullets and at least eight shots were fired. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_02-220x137-6360205Off-duty Red Bank police officers out delivering Christmas presents for the PBA heard the gunfire in Monday night’s shooting on the West Side, police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

“They were literally a block and half away” and immediately responded to the scene, on West Westside Avenue just a few doors east of Leighton Avenue, arriving even before nearby residents had called in the 8:39 p.m. shots, he said.

By the time they got there, however, the shooter or shooters, and any intended targets, were gone, McConnell said.

No one is known to have been injured, and a lone parked car belonging to a neighbor was struck by two bullets. Police have ruled out any involvement by the car’s owner, he said.

Witnesses reported several vehicles leaving the scene, but “we have no idea” how many may have been involved, he said.

Expounding on a comment by Mayor Pasquale Menna that the shooting was a “targeted,” rather than random, incident, McConnell said police are “not sure if the the intended target was a car or person. We know we have no victims.”

Police found eight shell casings, and several spent projectiles. The number of weapons used was not immediately known, McConnell said.

Police are sorting through accounts of callers and searching for any video that might show cars coming and going from the neighborhood, he said.

The shooting was  the third within a three-block area since early November, and the fourth since April. Authorities believe all are part of a tit-for-tat turf squabble, though whether it is over drugs, gang turf or something else is a mystery, McConnell said.

On November 6, Leon Veney, 29, of Red Bank, and Angelique Morris, 23, of Tinton Falls, were shot and critically injured as they sat in a pickup truck on West Sunset Avenue at about 8:30 p.m.

Two days later, a parked car was riddled with bullets three blocks north on River Street in broad daylight. Police said at the time that it was unclear if anyone was in the car, let alone shot, in the incident.

The November 6 shooting is believed to be related to the April shooting of Veney’s 28-year-old brother, Perry. He was shot multiple times as he sat behind the wheel of a car on Willow Street.

Anthony Sims,  25, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to shooting two men at the at the Montgomery Terrace public housing apartments on the borough’s West Side three years earlier, is under indictment and in custody for the Perry Veney shooting.

McConnell said Leon Veney has been released from Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune and may now be in a long-term care facility. Morris was released from the same hospital earlier.

The two “cooperated, moderately,” with investigators, he said, though neither has identified their assailant or assailants.

Police have stepped up patrols in the area, McConnell said. “They’re out there, and they’ll remain out there,” he said, adding that he has asked the Monmouth County Prosecutor and Sheriff for additional resources. But the sporadic timing of the incidents poses a challenge.

Noting the months between the two Veney shootings, and the fact that one of the last three incidents was in broad daylight reveals “no close pattern that you can be prepared for,” he said.

McConnell said he and Menna administration officials “are talking about setting up a meeting for the community” to discuss the situation. “We want to do it in a timely fashion, but be sensitive to the fact that people have Christmas plans, too,” he said.

“I understand the concern,” of neighbors, some of who were sharply critical of Menna and the borough council for a lack of communication last month, he said. “When somebody’s shooting multiple rounds in the street, it is a danger to the public.”

 

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...