Glen Rock residents critical of response after shooting at basketball court

Speakers at Wednesday's Glen Rock Borough Council meeting faulted local officials for failing to quickly notify the public of a park shooting the night before, a delay that caused fear and uncertainty in the community.

Roughly two dozen residents spoke about Tuesday's shooting in Wilde Memorial Park that left one person injured during the meeting's public comment session, which lasted more than an hour.

Some who live close to the park reported hearing the shots and seeing strangers running through their properties immediately afterward. Others said they learned of the shooting through neighbors and family members and wondered why that information did not come from council members or law enforcement.

"You did not share the facts with the town and created chaos," resident Rosemarie Barone told the council.

Glen Rock Police responded to a disturbance on the park's basketball court at 7:34 p.m. Tuesday, according to a press release from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. A 23-year-old Paterson man had a single gunshot wound and was treated at a nearby hospital and released. No arrests have been announced.

The park was closed in the aftermath of the shooting, but most of the property had reopened to the public as of Thursday morning, Glen Rock Police stated on Facebook. However, the basketball court remains closed as part of the investigation.

Mayor Kristine Morieko alerted residents of the shooting in a reverse 911 call hours after the incident. She apologized for the delay, noting that she was at the scene working with police and "waiting for permission to speak."

While some speakers at Wednesday's meeting acknowledged the unwillingness to share inaccurate details, they also felt there should have been an immediate alert with basic details so residents were aware of the shots.

"Inherently, reverse 911 is to reach people en masse in an emergency," resident Eileen Hillock said. "I don't understand what rule or protocol would prevent our mayor or any elected official in our town from telling us that there's an emergency."

Others questioned why officials did not take action to disperse the crowd at the basketball court, which they said had been loud and smoking marijuana prior to the shooting. Rob Carosella, who was coaching on the baseball field adjacent to the basketball court when the shooting took place, said he heard "30 to 50" shots ring out as parents and young children scrambled for safety.

"We keep talking about one person being injured. That's just damn blind luck," Carosella said. "There were 10, 11, 12-year-olds running for their life. They will live with that for the rest of their lives, and they will go home every night with that nightmare because nothing was being done."

Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackermann said at the meeting that there were two officers in the park at the time of the shooting, and that number increased to about 50 through a mutual aid response.

"The on-scene supervisor quickly determined that any potential threat had been contained and that there was no threat to the general public at that time," Ackermann said.

Morieko said the borough is "considering any and all remedies within our power legally to ensure the safety of the public." In an interview with NorthJersey.com earlier in the day, she mentioned the possibility of closing the basketball court, enforcing a capacity limit or restricting the area to Glen Rock residents, but such solutions may impact funding the park receives from the New Jersey Green Acres program.

Several speakers expressed concerns that Glen Rock is no longer as safe as they once thought following Tuesday's shooting. They urged the council and police to figure out a way to restore that feeling of safety.

"Please take some concrete steps to make sure we feel safe in this town," resident Sanjiv Ohri said. "Right now, that bubble is broken very, very bad."

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Glen Rock Police are requesting the public's help in providing any photos, videos or other pertinent information that may assist investigators. Footage taken in and around the park immediately before, during, or after the shooting may be submitted at bcponj.evidence.com/axon/community-request/public/glenrock.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Glen Rock NJ shooting response criticized by residents