Jersey City shooting claims life of innocent bystander working on car

JERSEY CITY (WABC) -- Police responded to the scene of a deadly shooting in New Jersey Wednesday, and the victim was an innocent bystander.

The incident happened just before 3 p.m. Sackett Street near Bramhall Avenue in Jersey City and was the second report of gunfire within a 10-block radius.

Relatives of 50-year-old Larry Darnell Freeman gathered in disbelief just steps from the crime scene strewn with shell casings.

"We just need answers," one family member said. "We need answers so we can have closure as to what took place around here."

Freeman made his living fixing cars, and he was replacing the fender of an SUV while its owner was sitting in the car when the barrage of bullets came from out of nowhere.

"All we know is that a car came down and just started shooting, that's all we know," Freeman's sister, Marion Hawkins, said.

Freeman was pronounced dead on the scene from a gunshot wound to the torso.

"That's all I did, ducked," one witness said. "Literally dived to the bottom of my car."

Detectives worked for hours to piece the crime together.

Family members say there's no way he was the intended target and that he was beloved in the neighborhood.

"He was quiet, easy going, free spirited, didn't bother anybody," wife Claressa Williams said. "And whoever did this, they need to catch him."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor' Office Homicide Unit at 201-915-1345. All calls confidential.