Authorities arrested one suspect and are searching for another after a shooting in Garfield on Tuesday, Sept. 2, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella confirmed.
Around 9:07 a.m., Garfield police responded to Palisade Avenue and Somerset Street following reports of gunfire. Officers found evidence of a shooting but did not locate any victims, Musella said.
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Detectives determined that seven shots were fired during an altercation between two men who fled the scene immediately. They were identified as 20-year-old Mikhi Maddox Odum and 20-year-old Jonathan M. Ortiz, both of Garfield.
Ortiz faces multiple charges, including second-degree aggravated assault for attempting to cause serious bodily injury by discharging a firearm, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun, second-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, and fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm.
Within hours of the shooting, detectives executed a search warrant at Ortiz’s home and recovered the handgun used in the incident. However, attempts to locate and arrest him were unsuccessful, and he remains a fugitive, Musella said.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, detectives searched Odum’s Garfield home, where he was arrested without incident. Police recovered the handgun used in the shooting inside the residence, where children were present.
Odum was charged with second-degree aggravated assault, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun, second-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm. He was taken to the Bergen County Jail and is awaiting his first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court.
Anyone with information about Ortiz’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Tip Line at 201-226-5532.
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