Gunfire rang out near the corner of Union Avenue and Wayne Avenue in Paterson on Sunday night, prompting police to chase two suspects on dirt bikes before calling off the pursuit, while a separate robbery left a man without his scooter just blocks away. A male victim told police he was shot at roughly four times, though it was not initially clear whether he had actually been struck by gunfire. Authorities in Passaic County are now investigating what officials describe as a series of incidents involving gunfire and a reported armed robbery.
According to RLS Media, officers responded to reports of shots fired in the 300 block of Union Avenue at approximately 10:31 p.m. Sunday. Police then received a reported robbery call at approximately 11:06 p.m. near 360 Union Avenue at Wayne Avenue. Gunfire reportedly struck the windshield of a vehicle during the incident, though the exact sequence connecting the shooting and the robbery calls remains unclear from initial reports.
Based on preliminary information, police pursued two suspects riding dirt bikes during the unfolding incidents. That chase was short-lived: officers terminated the pursuit before it escalated further. New Jersey's Attorney General pursuit directives, revised under Directive 2022-4, strictly limit high-speed vehicle pursuits to specified violent crimes or immediate severe public safety risks and require supervisor authorization along with continuous risk assessment — a policy framework that helps explain why officers broke off the chase rather than continuing at speed through city streets.
A Later Scooter Robbery
Later in the same stretch of activity on Union Avenue, a male victim was robbed of his scooter. It remains unclear whether the robbery was connected to the earlier shots-fired incident or whether the same suspects were involved. The circumstances surrounding both incidents remain under investigation.
Union Avenue has a documented history as a trouble spot. A 2018 Paterson Police Department report classified sections of the corridor as a high-crime area and a “breeding ground for criminal activity,” according to the Paterson Times, documenting 15 shootings along the strip between 2014 and 2018 that prompted expanded municipal business curfews in the area.
Dirt Bikes and the Limits of Local Law
Illegal dirt bikes and ATVs on city streets have long frustrated Paterson officials. In September 2022, the city's Mayor and City Council enacted a municipal ordinance banning ATVs, dirt bikes, minibikes, and snowmobiles from all city streets, sidewalks, and public property, with fines reaching up to $2,000 alongside vehicle impoundment or forfeiture. Two months later, Paterson went further, passing a local ordinance barring city gas stations from selling fuel to illegal ATVs and dirt bikes brought onto their premises in an effort to cut off the vehicles' fuel supply.
State law has also provided enforcement tools for illegal off-road vehicle use. Under New Jersey statute (N.J.S.A. 39:3C-35), off-road vehicles operated illegally on public streets are subject to mandatory impoundment. Additional ATV enforcement measures have been proposed.
Policing Under State Control
Paterson's police department has been the subject of debate over state oversight and local governance.
The gunfire and robbery reports on Union Avenue this weekend illustrate that pockets of the city continue to test enforcement efforts. The incident echoes other recent Paterson cases Hoodline has covered, including a hidden gambling chute bust that referenced a prior fatal robbery shooting in the city.
No arrests have been announced in connection with either the shots-fired report or the scooter robbery, and officials have not said whether the two cases are related beyond their proximity on Union Avenue. The circumstances surrounding both incidents remain under investigation.
