3 Injured In Shooting Outside NJ Smoke Shop & Restaurant, Police Say

TRENTON, NJ — Three people were injured in a shooting that took place outside a local smoke shop and restaurant on Sunday, Trenton Police told Patch.

At 4:10 a.m. on Sunday, police were dispatched to Capital Health Regional Medical Center for a report of three people who were shot.

Once authorities arrived at the hospital, they found three victims: a 32-year-old woman, a 31-year-old woman, and a 34-year-old man. Police did not release their identities.

The victims told police that they were in the rear exterior patio area of NJ Weedman’s Joint Restaurant at 322 East State Street when the shooting occurred.

According to a report from NJ.com, Ed Forchion, the owner of the Joint, said people were gathered on the patio for a night of music and partying when a man started “acting erratically and in a confrontational manner.”

Staff members eventually asked him to leave. After pushing women on his way out and briefly waiting outside, he apologized and asked to stay, but staff didn’t allow him back in, the report said.

Shortly after this, Forchion told NJ.com that someone fired multiple shots into the crowd, which left customers wounded, and that surveillance footage of the incident later identified the shooter as the same man who had been asked to leave.

The Mercer County Shooting Response Team was notified and responded to the incident, and all of the victims were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

A preliminary investigation found that the suspected shooter fired numerous shots into the rear back patio area of NJ Weedman’s Joint Restaurant, striking the three victims.

Anyone with information is asked to contact 609-989-4155 or 609-989-4000.