*(CNN) — A man suspected of wounding two police officers in a shooting in Newark, New Jersey, is in police custody, two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation said Wednesday.
Kendall Howard, 30, is accused of shooting two Newark police officers as they tried to question him near an apartment building in the city Tuesday afternoon, authorities had said.
The shooting led to an hourslong police search of that building before they determined that night Howard was no longer there.
Details about Howard’s detention weren’t immediately available. A news conference will be held Wednesday afternoon, the Essex County prosecutor’s office said.
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An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for Howard in connection with that day’s shooting, charging him with two counts of attempted murder, unauthorized possession of a weapon and unauthorized possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, county Prosecutor Ted Stephens said.
One of the officers was shot in a leg and has a small fracture, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said Tuesday. The other officer was shot in his shoulder and the bullet grazed his neck, Baraka said. Both were in stable condition, he said.
What officials say led to the shooting
Howard had been wanted in connection with an October 28 shooting in Newark, Baraka said. Officers first approached him Tuesday after someone identified him from a flier and called police to say he was in a nearby building.
Police encountered him near the parking lot, the mayor said.
“They gave him instructions; there was a brief altercation; the gentleman pulled a gun out, shot two police officers at close range. Gunshot was returned — fire was returned. The gentleman retreated into the building,” Baraka said.
The shooting came amid an uptick in violence against law enforcement in the US.
There were 252 officers shot, including 50 fatally, from the beginning of this year through September 30, according to the Fraternal Order of Police, an organization representing US law enforcement officers.
That’s a 5% increase over the same period in 2021 and a 6% increase over the same period in 2020, according to the organization.
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