17-year-old boy gunned down in afternoon shooting on NJ street

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

17-year-old gunned down in afternoon shooting on NJ street

A 17-year-old was fatally shot in New Jersey Monday, and police are searching for the gunman.

ELIZABETH, New Jersey (WABC) -- A 17-year-old was fatally shot in New Jersey Monday, and police are searching for the gunman.

Paul Andrew Baez Ramos was killed on the 100 block of Fulton Street in Elizabeth shortly before 2:30 p.m.

Eyewitness News was told that Ramos was going to a relative's house for dinner when someone started firing.

Elizabeth Police Department patrol units responded to the scene after a report of gunshots and found him at that location, having sustained a fatal injury.

The Union County Prosecutor's office has not said yet if investigators determined he was targeted or was an innocent bystander.

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His coach says Ramos was one of two children to a single mother, an outstanding soccer player and an honored student at Elizabeth High School.

"Paul was the kind of kid that wanted more, more and more and hard work," said Merlin Villagomez of Merlin Soccer Club.

The soccer field at Mattano Park is just one of many in Elizabeth where Paul Andrew Baez Ramos used to practice and play.

His team, the Merlin Soccer Club, has practice Wednesday night. The first practice since the 17-year-old was shot and killed Monday afternoon.

Friends created a GoFundMe to help with those expenses.

Ramos was a high school senior with dreams of playing soccer professionally.

"All my life I've been a coach ... never I saw a kid go more and more and more, he worked too," Villagomez said.

The shooter is still on the loose.

The investigation into the shooting is being led by the Union County Homicide Task Force and assisted by members of the Elizabeth Police Department, Union County Police Department Ballistics Unit, and Union County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit.

Anyone with information about this matter is urged to contact Prosecutor's Office Sgt. Lamar Hartsfield at 908-451-1873, Prosecutor's Office Detective Sean Holcomb at 908-358-8377 or Elizabeth Police Department Detective Edward Benenati at 908-328-6972.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously by phone at 908-654-TIPS (8477).

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