Vigil For Jersey City Cops

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Two of the five police officers shot in Jersey City yesterday remain in critical condition.

Officer Marc DiNardo, 37, was shot in the face. Officials say he will need extensive reconstructive facial surgery.

Police Officer Michael Camacho, 25, is improving after he was shot in the neck

A total of eight officers were wounded.

Police Officer Frank Molina, 35, Port Authority Police Officer Dennis Mitchell, 35, and Jersey City Police Detective Marc Lavelle, 43, were among those shot.

Molina was hit in the back, but he was saved by his ballistic vest. He is being held for observation. Lavelle was grazed in the leg and Mitchell was hit in the arm; they were treated and released.

Officials indicated that the suspects were Hassan A. Shakur and Amanda G. Anderson, but did not officially identify them as the people killed pending confirmation of their fingerprints.

The incident started unfolding at 5 a.m. on Reed Street, which is known for its drug problems. Police officers were watching a car they believed was used in an armed robbery and shooting at oil-change business in June. Cops were hoping to find the suspects who were seen on surveillance video at that scene.So when a person came to the car, officers moved in and approached the suspects on the street. One suspect opened fire with a pump-action shotgun, authorities said.

WOUNDED COPS

P.O. Marc DiNardo, JCPD; shot in face, critical
P.O. Michael Camacho, JCPD; shot in neck, critical
P.O. Frank Molina, JCPD; shot in back, observation
Det. Marc Lavelle, JCPD; shot in leg, released
P.O. Dennis Mitchell, PAPD ESU; shot in arm, released

DEAD SUSPECTS

Hassan A. Shakur
Amanda G. Anderson

>JUNE 18 SHOTGUN ATTACK

"This individual came fully ready to go to war with us," said Police Chief Thomas Comey. "This is not a normal shotgun, this is not a street weapon -- this is meant to hunt nothing other than man."

Jersey City and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers responded.

The suspects then ran into a building and kept shooting through doors and out windows, hitting the officers, the house across the street, and the cars parked on the street.

When the SWAT team attempted to enter the building, the suspects continued firing through the door and wall. Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy called the exchange "a terrible gun fight."

The car that cops were watching was loaded onto a flatbed tow truck after 9 a.m.

Jersey City Police Director Samuel Jefferson said a citizen tip led police officers to the car the officers were watching before the shooting.