Mayor, Chief 'Outraged' After Maplewood Park Shooting

The Maplewood Police Department will be increasing patrols, focusing on the area around Maplecrest Park after someone fired a handgun into a crowded football game.

Maplewood Mayor Vitor DeLuca, Township Committee Member and Public Safety Committee Chairman Marlon K. Brownlee and Maplewood Chief of Police Robert Cimino held a public meeting on Thursday, Aug. 22 in the Municipal Court Chambers to address and update the public on a recent shooting incident.

A man in a gray hooded sweatshirt walked into Maplecrest park at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18 and fired several shots in the direction of a group playing football, said Cimino.

No one was injured in the incident but town officials described their emotions as “outraged,” “dismayed,” “shocked,” and “angry.”

Citizens filled the court chambers with standing room only looking for information on what was being done.

Cimino, who could not go into details so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation, assured residents that patrols will increase, as well as communication with the public.

“We have developed some leads but we do not have information as of yet to allow us to bring criminal charges against anyone in this incident,” said Cimino. “But, the investigation is ongoing and the leads we have we can work with to continue the investigation.”

Cimino also spoke about the process of sharing information between departments and agencies such as the State Police, County Sheriff's, and County Prosecutor's Offices. The police department also has cameras in place at various intersections which allow police to view the area closest to an incident. There is not someone watching the video 24/7 looking for criminal activity, but the footage is there as a resource, Cimino said.

“We share our crime statistics with the neighboring towns and get a summary of information from Newark, Irvington, South Orange, Union and Millburn,” he continued. “We use that as part of our preparation for what we are going to arm our patrol officers with when they go out and produce a shift bulletin as they go on the road so they have the most updated information on the current threats.”

Community members asked if shooting incidents like the one discussed are becoming more common but Cimino called the shooting an “aberration.”

“We haven't had a shooting incident like this in I don't know how long,” he said.

The shooting also did not appear to be random, and based on the information, appears to have been directed toward the group of football players in the park.

“We need more deterrents,” said resident Erin Scherzer who suggested more visible cameras. “Whether it was random or not, what happened is completely uncomfortable. (The shooter) could have hit my 18-month old. This person could have hurt my child.”

Members of the community, including members of neighborhood associations, also expressed concerns and discussed possible solutions and deterrents including better lighting, emergency poles similar to those on college campuses and better communication between the town and its citizens.

Town officials discussed mobile phones, the town website, radio stations and public bulletins to improve communication. The town is even working on a social media app specific to Maplewood, said Brownlee.

The township committee will discuss and assign issues to the safety committee who will work with the neighborhood associations and post the next steps on the website, said Mayor DeLuca. For now, township officials encouraged signing up for neighborhood associations.

Chief Cimino stressed the importance of reporting suspicious activity. Parents should be mindful of what is going on around them, and if they observe something suspicious, report it to police immediately, he said.

“The most important thing for the Maplewood Police Department is receiving the information that the person is concerned about,” he said. “Our response time is somewhere between two and four minutes and we can get an officer to that location very quickly and even if something turns out not to be a criminal activity and has an explanation, we would much rather have that officer make that determination.”