Several shot, one killed at Art All Night in Trenton

Art All Night in Trenton?  That sounds like a great idea.

A 24-hour celebration that showcases local artists turned into the Wild West early Sunday morning amidst a fight inside a warehouse.

At least one person was killed and numerous others were injured in a shootout that happened at the Art All Night celebration in the Roebling Market section of the city.

Early, how early?

“When we got here around 2:30, it didn’t look like we were coming to Art All Night,” city resident Franco Roberts said.

Wow, 2:30 am.  While that is technically early in the morning, that’s smack in the middle of the ‘witching hour’ of 2:00 am to 4:00 am.  For all practical purposes, the Midnight to 6:00 am is the “nothing good happens” time of day.

“It looked like we were outside of a Philadelphia club after the bar closes and people who don’t want to leave are standing around their cars smoking and drinking.”

Smoking and drinking in a parking lot in Trenton after midnight.  This will end badly.

Roberts and his girlfriend had a feeling something bad was going to happen because there were “more people outside than in the warehouse” and no music was playing inside, he said.

I have a bad feeling just reading this.

“There’s usually a lot of noise and a lot of music but there was none of that,” Robert said. “Someone told us they were shutting down the whole building. Then we turned around and saw people squaring up to fight.”

And that’s when gunshots rang out.

“I saw two punches and then heard several gunshots,” Roberts said.

Roberts said chaos ensued as people fled from the building. He and other witnesses did not know exactly how many people were shooting, but they say it sounded as if there was more than one gunman.

“Everybody ran toward the door,” he said. “And the people fighting got mixed with the crowd that was running and they went out the door shooting.”

A stampede and a fire fight at the same time.

Officials confirmed a 33-year-old male believed to be one of the shooters died, and that at least 16 people were struck by gunfire, including a 13-year-old male who is hospitalized in extremely critical condition. Three others are hospitalized in critical condition as well. A total of 20 people were taken to the hospital to treat injuries sustained during the incident.

Those are Chicago numbers.

The Roebling Market parking lot was covered in trash, broken glass and liquor bottles Sunday as police processed the scene for evidence. Regular patrons of Art All Night say the event is usually cleaner than what was seen in the aftermath of the shooting.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” a woman who asked to remain anonymous said. “This trash is surprising. It didn’t look like this last year.”

You don’t say…

Officials say no metal detectors were used to check people for weapons before entering the historic Roebling Wire Works factory building where most of the art is showcased during the event.

That seems like a great idea.

Police sources who spoke on condition of anonymity say more than 70 shell casings were found at the scene following the shooting.

To be fair to Trenton, that may not necessarily all from that night.

“This is truly a tragedy for Trenton,” Mayor Eric Jackson said at a press conference Sunday morning after the incident. “

No it’s not, it’s a totally predictable outcome for an all night event in Trenton.

All shootings, whether large or small, are a crisis. It’s a fact that our cities, as well as our suburbs, throughout America are experiencing an increase in public shootings and public unrest. This isn’t some random act of violence; this is a public health issue. We are working cooperatively and collaboratively to end this violence in the city of Trenton.”

Dude, it’s Trenton.  Don’t blame the burbs for this.  Chicago killed over 500 people in the same year that Aurora and Naperville had zero homicides.

Look, it’s simple.  Don’t hang out drinking and smoking in parking lots at 2:30 am.  Nothing good happens after midnight.