2016-08-30

A day after a shootout on the Atlantic City Expressway left one man dead and four others hurt, with some victims going to a nearby Wawa for help, New Jersey State Police said five people were charged with weapons offenses as investigators searched for another vehicle possibly involved.

The crime scene stretched for miles in what state police called a "rolling shootout."

1 Dies, 4 Hurt in Shore Shooting That Leads Victims to Wawa

Five people have been charged and the police investigation continues as troopers search for a vehicle that witnesses said may have been involved in the shooting.

Troopers first received calls reporting a shooting along the expressway near milepost 12 in Egg Harbor Township shortly before 3 p.m. Monday. Around the same time, a bullet-riddled Ford Expedition — it was hit 21 times, according to police — missing a rear tire and windows, barreled into the parking lot of the Egg Harbor Township Wawa store along Tilton Road, witnesses said.

Man Gets Life Sentence for Hammer Attack on Girlfriend

Inside were four men who pleaded for help from strangers.

"The driver said he was shot," witness Erwin Ashworth told NBC10's Ted Greenberg. "The passenger was hanging from the window... He said everybody was shot at least a couple times."

People Can't Sue Pa. Town Over Gunman's Deadly Rage: Judge

Bloodied clothes sat crumpled on the ground outside the truck where the victims were treated by medics. They were eventually transported to the Atlantic City Medical Center for treatment.

Around the same time, troopers were called to milepost 39 along the Garden State Expressway where they found Rosemund Octavius, 22, dead in the passenger seat of Anthony Hicks' Nissan Maxima. Hicks, who wasn't hurt, told police Octavius was shot while they drove on the expressway.

Investigators believe the shooting occurred on the AC Expressway eastbound between milepost 11 and milepost 12.

On Tuesday morning, police announced the arrest if Hicks, a resident of Mays Landing, on a series of weapons charges.

A police K-9 unit traced the Expedition's path to a location near the Wawa where investigators found several weapons — including an AK-style assault rifle — they believe are connected to the shooting, police said.

They also announced multiple weapons charges, including not being lawfully able to carry a firearm charges, against the occupants of the Expedition: Lenardo Caro, 24, of Little Egg Harbor Township; Yahshaun Stukes-Williams, 19, of Mays Landing; Shaun Stukes, 38, of Atlantic City; and a 16-year-old boy not identified since he's a minor.

The three men in the Expedition also face a charge of using a juvenile in a crime, troopers troopers said.

Each of the five suspects was held of $250,000 cash bail, said police.

The investigation continued, including the search for another vehicle. Witnesses told police a black Dodge Ram pickup truck that exited the highway in the Pleasantville area was also possibly involved.

"It is not yet clear from which vehicles the shots were fired that killed Octavius or injured the people in the Expedition, so the current charges reflect the early phase of this case," state police said on Facebook.

Stukes and Stukes-Williams remained hospitalized Tuesday, police said.

Photo Credit: New Jersey State Police

Show more