362 Van Nostrand Ave. Jersey City 4 Gallery: 362 Van Nostrand Ave. Jersey City

A close friend of Kenny Britt was stabbed early this morning in a fight in Jersey City and was taken to the hospital by the NFL star, who refused to talk about the incident, police reports said.

It was originally reported that the stabbed man was Britt's brother.

And, about an hour-and-a-half later, a gun shot rang out at a home near where the stabbing occurred. The shot was fired just after the Tennessee Titans football star picked up a woman identified by police as Britt's girlfriend at the house near where the stabbing took place, police said.



Police were called to a birthday party at a home on Van Nostrand Avenue between Sterling and West Side avenues in Jersey City at 3:28 a.m. on the report of a stabbing during a fight involving a large group of people, reports said. But when they arrived there was no sign of trouble, reports said.

Police were then notified that a stabbing victim later identified as Britt's friend had walked into the Jersey City Medical Center accompanied by Britt, reports said. Britt, who grew up in Bayonne, was uncooperative with police and left the hospital, reports said.

The friend also refused to cooperate with police, reports said. He was treated for a non-life threatening stab wound to the left side of his back near his arm, reports said.

In a statement issued late Sunday night, a spokesman for Britt said the ex-Rutgers standout was at a dinner, not a house party, and claimed Britt made himself available to speak with investigators.

"Kenny was leaving a dinner cooked by his friends' parents when he found his friend, who had left earlier, injured outside. Kenny immediately brought his friend to the hospital and was there with the injured friend's family for several hours, but was not otherwise involved in the incident," the statement read. "It was not a house party, Kenny's brother was not injured (and wasn't even there) and Kenny has made himself available to cooperate with the authorities investigation of this matter."

Later, at 4:57 a.m., police were called to second-floor apartment at a two family home on Van Nostrand Avenue near where the birthday party had been held, on the report of shots fired, reports said.

There, they found a spent shell in front of the building and a bullet hole in the window of the ground floor apartment.

Police spoke to ground-floor residents who said that they were sleeping in a back room at the time of the shooting, but had heard arguing in the apartment above them earlier, reports said.

Police then interviewed the 49-year-old woman who is a resident of the second-floor apartment who said that her two sons had been involved in a verbal argument earlier, which had had escalated into a fight, and then spilled over to the home where the birthday party had been held, reports said. She told police both her sons had since left the area, reports said.

Other members of the household had intervened to stop the fight, reports said.

During that fight, Britt's friend was stabbed, police said. Britt dropped the victim off at the hospital and then returned to the party to pick up the woman identified as his girlfriend, reports said.

Just after Britt and the woman left the apartment, the resident heard the shot and called police, reports said.

Capt. Edgar Martinez said investigators would be interviewing the occupants of the second-floor apartment -- as well as Britt -- to find out what they saw or heard.

"Our investigation is focused on the occupants of the second-floor apartment where the dispute started to determine what transpired,'' Martinez said.

Britt, the former Rutgers star, is a current Tennessee Titans wide receiver and has had a career plagued with controversy. He was suspended by NFL for one game in September, for violation of the league’s personal conduct policy after he was charged with driving under the influence July 20, when he tried to drive onto the Fort Campbell Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

In April 2011, he was charged with leading police on a chase through Bayonne. The charges were reduced and he eventually was fined slightly less than $500. In June 2011, the 2009 first-round draft pick was arrested in a Hoboken car wash when police there smelled what they suspected to be marijuana and said they saw Britt holding what appeared to be a "blunt" cigar. The drug charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and Britt was fined $1,500 and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.

Britt finished the 2012 season with a career high 45 catches for 589 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games, but his 13.1-yard average was the lowest of his career, The Tennessean reported. Injuries have plagued Britt for most of his career. Before the 2012 season, he had surgery on his left knee to repair a meniscus tear.