7th Victim In Seven Weeks Shot Dead In Paterson

PATERSON, N.J. -- A seventh victim in seven weeks was shot dead on a Paterson street overnight Sunday, as a months-long shooting spree continued, authorities said.

This year, 16 victims have died from gunfire in Paterson -- compared with 19 total homicides for all of 2015.
Photo Credit: *CLIFFVIEW PILOT file photo*

Jerry DeMarco

09/18/2016 10:30 p.m.

Christian Cuevas, 24, of Paterson was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Medical Center after being shot several times in the 700 block of East 19th Street around 4:30 a.m., Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Chief William Fraher said early Sunday afternoon.

This year, 16 victims have died from gunfire -- compared with 19 total homicides all of 2015.

More than two dozen other victims have been wounded by gunfire in a late-summer spree of shootings that began the first week of August -- many of them after midnight and most in areas where drugs are sold.

Authorities have stopped short of blaming a gang war for the shootings, most of which have occurred each of the past eight weekends.

The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office was working with Paterson police to investigate the cold-blooded killings.

Anyone with information in any of the shootings is asked to call the Passaic County Prosecutor’s tips line at 1-877-370-PCPO ortips@passaiccountynj.org or Detective Ralph Fermin of the Paterson Police Detective Bureau at (973) 321-1120.

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