A 39-year-old Garfield man was shot multiple times early Saturday on Route 21 northbound in Passaic, and police are still hunting for whoever pulled the trigger. Passaic officers responded to a report of a shooting at approximately 3:41 a.m. near milepost 10.9, and authorities say a vehicle was involved in the attack.
The victim was taken to a hospital, and Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Passaic Police Chief Luis A. Guzman said his injuries were non-life-threatening, according to Daily Voice. As of Sunday, the investigation remained active and ongoing, with no arrests announced. Beyond confirming that a vehicle was tied to the shooting and that the man suffered gunshot wounds, the joint statement from Valdes and Guzman left many of the operational details of the case unaddressed.
Some of those gaps were filled by real-time dispatch chatter picked up separately by RLS Media, which reported that authorities were alerted shortly before 4 a.m. to the northbound lanes near milepost 10.1 and were searching for a blue BMW with New York plates, its rear license plate reportedly hanging loose from the bumper, last seen fleeing north on Route 21. Those same initial dispatches indicated the Garfield man had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, a detail not included in the prosecutor's office's official statement. It is not yet clear from the available reporting whether that dispatch account and the prosecutor's characterization of multiple gunshot wounds refer to the same injuries or simply reflect different stages of the unfolding investigation.
Open Questions Facing Investigators
Key questions remain unresolved, including whether the shooting was a targeted road-rage incident, an ambush between people who knew each other, or a random act of violence, and whether highway traffic cameras captured the suspect vehicle entering or leaving Route 21, per the same account from RLS Media. Passaic police and the county prosecutor's office have not publicly addressed a motive.
Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office tips line at 1-877-370-PCPO, submit an anonymous tip through the office's website, email the prosecutor's office directly, or call the Passaic Police Department at 973-365-3900.
A Corridor With A History Of Highway Violence
Saturday's shooting is not an isolated event for the 14.3-mile Route 21 corridor, which runs along the west bank of the Passaic River and serves as a principal arterial highway linking Newark, Passaic, Clifton and Paterson, according to Wikipedia. In July 2024, Prosecutor Valdes's office investigated a similar incident in Passaic in which a vehicle was struck by gunfire along Route 21 North near Exit 11B, a case first reported to police around 8 p.m. on July 19 of that year, as detailed by RLS Media. Back in February 2020, police intercepted two vehicles on Route 21 South near Exit 7 after occupants of one car opened fire on four people traveling in another, a rolling highway shooting that led to attempted murder and weapons charges against three Paterson residents, RLS Media also reported.
The corridor has also seen recent gun seizures and other serious vehicular incidents. On September 2, Clifton police made a traffic stop on Route 21 in Passaic County and arrested a 37-year-old Paterson man, a convicted felon released from prison just over a year earlier, after finding a knife and a handgun loaded with 15 hollow-point rounds in his vehicle, according to Patch. And on August 16, an intoxicated driver rammed two stationary Clifton police cars that were blocking traffic for a crash investigation on Route 21 North near River Road, injuring an officer and igniting both vehicles, per News 12 New Jersey; that driver was charged with DWI and assault by auto.
What Weapons Charges Could Mean If Made
Should charges eventually be filed in connection with a firearm in Saturday's shooting, New Jersey law treats unlawful possession of a handgun under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5 as a second-degree crime carrying five to 10 years in state prison. Under the state's Graves Act, anyone convicted faces a mandatory minimum period of parole ineligibility, according to LACE Law, LLC. No suspect has been named or charged in connection with Saturday's shooting as of this writing.
Chief Guzman, who is co-leading the investigation alongside Prosecutor Valdes, joined the Passaic Police Department in October 1990 as its first Dominican-born officer and rose through the ranks, including a stint as deputy chief, before taking command of the department, according to background compiled by Passaic City Hall. Valdes, appointed in May 2009 as New Jersey's first Latina county prosecutor, oversees 16 municipal police departments across Passaic County and manages a staff of roughly 185 deputy prosecutors, detectives and support personnel, per the Eagleton Institute of Politics.
For now, the investigation into who shot the Garfield man on Route 21 remains open, with police still working to determine what led to the gunfire and whether the blue BMW spotted fleeing the scene will lead them to a suspect.
