Man Tried To Shoot West Orange Dad On Back-To-School-Night: ECPO

WEST ORANGE, NJ — An Essex County jury convicted an Edison man of attempted murder on Thursday after he tried to shoot a West Orange father returning home from his daughter’s back-to-school night in 2016, prosecutors said.

John Searles, 23, of Edison, faces 20 years in state prison when he’s sentenced on Aug. 12, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutors said the incident took place in September 2016 at a Lowell Place home in West Orange. After receiving a call about a shooting in progress, West Orange police arrived at the scene to find the victim bleeding and suffering from several abrasions.

The injured man told officers he returned from back-to-school night at his daughter’s school and pulled into his home’s attached garage. Then – as he walked to the front door – a man in a ski mask later identified as Searles rushed out of his driveway and fired multiple shots.

None of the bullets hit the victim, although one came close, leaving a hole in his jacket, prosecutors said.

Acting quickly, the victim ran towards Searles and tackled him in the driveway. During the struggle, the victim grabbed a 9mm Ruger handgun from his attacker and threw it in the rear yard. Police later recovered the weapon, as well as a bullet fragment and a 9mm live round, authorities said.

An “unknown” man then joined the pair and tried to break up the fight, which eventually ended with the man and Searles retreating and fleeing the scene in a Nissan Altima, prosecutors said.

The victim told police that during the attack, Searles yelled “You have $20,000 on your head!” The remark was an apparent reference to a bounty on his life, prosecutors said.

The incident was captured on a nearby surveillance camera. In addition, investigators found DNA evidence from Searles’ blood on the victim’s clothing, prosecutors said.

On June 27, an Essex County jury found Searles guilty of first-degree attempted murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree possession of a defaced firearm.

Searles also had a prior “drug conviction” and was a convicted felon on probation at the time of the September 2016 attack, prosecutors said.

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