Suspect shot during DEA search warrant execution in Parsippany
PARSIPPANY, New Jersey (WABC) -- Officials say federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents executing a search warrant in Parsippany shot a suspect in the shoulder on Wednesday morning.
It happened at a home on Kingston Road around 6:15 a.m.
A law enforcement official says when members of the task force entered the Parsippany home, they believed the suspect was shooting at them from the basement, through the floor.
They returned fire, striking the suspect in the shoulder. He is expected to survive and charges against him are pending.
He is a suspected member of a gang. The task force had a search warrant to find him when they arrived.
No agents were injured in the incident.
The Parsippany Police Department had warned residents on Kingston Road between RT202 and Alloway Road and also between Richards Street and Marcella Road to remain inside due to the law enforcement activity.
"This is very scary. We'd like to know as a community what was going on," one woman said.
Residents said it was a shocking scene to witness.
"It's crazy, it is crazy. Just on a Wednesday, a random Wednesday you get a text saying that the cops are here, the feds are here, and there's a shootout apparently, so yeah, it's scary," another woman said.
It is normally a quiet neighborhood, according to Anthony Vermont, who grew up there and bought his parents' house.
"I've been here 42 years and so I've never had anything like this ever happen," he said.
Authorities released a statement saying,
"DEA and its federal partners were executing a court authorized search warrant this morning in Parsippany, NJ when shots were fired. One suspect was shot and transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No agents were injured as a result. This incident is now under investigation and DEA will have no other statements. Please refer any future questions to the FBI."
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