Joe Malinconico

Paterson Press

PATERSON — Three 14-year-old boys suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds Monday night in a drug-plagued section of the city's 4th Ward, officials said.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that the shooting was connected to a homicide that happened three weeks ago in another section of the ward, law enforcement sources said.

The incident took place on the first night that Paterson’s police patrols returned to normal levels after a weekend during which about 60 extra law enforcement officers were deployed — a crime-suppression effort that helped bring an end to the city’s streak of someone being shot on eight straight weekends.

Monday’s shooting happened at about 8:43 p.m. near the corner Summer Street and Hamilton Avenue — two of Paterson’s most notorious streets for drug dealing and gun violence, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said in a statement.

Law enforcement sources said they are looking into the possibility that Monday’s shooting was linked to a crime on Sept. 22 in which one man was killed and another injured by gunshots at another notorious 4th Ward location: 12th Avenue and East 23rd Street.

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Authorities said Monday’s shooting does not appear to be connected to the Oct. 6 killing of a 13-year-old boy, which happened about six blocks away. That homicide may have resulted from a dispute over a bicycle, according to several city activists and members of the City Council.

Monday’s incident raises the number of shootings in Paterson this year to 72. Twelve people have been killed and 90 suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds in those crimes, according to data compiled by Paterson Press.

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