JERSEY CITY MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN 2019 NEWPORT CENTRE MALL SHOOTING

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On Monday, February 22, 2021, Ahmad Broadway, age 26, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to charges related to his involvement in the January 11, 2019 shooting inside the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City that injured two people.

Broadway pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purposes in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a and to one count of fourth-degree Risking Widespread Injury or Damage in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2c.

The plea was accepted by the Honorable John A. Young, Jr., J.S.C. during a virtual plea hearing.

On Friday, January 11, 2019, at approximately 6 p.m., Jersey City Police responded to a call of shots fired with victims from inside the food court on the third floor of the Newport Centre Mall. Two men were injured in the shooting and hundreds of mall-goers were locked down for hours while law enforcement from multiple agencies throughout the area secured the mall and searched for the shooter.

Broadway was arrested by Jersey City Police on January 22, 2019 and indicted by a Hudson County Grand Jury on April 17, 2019.

As part of today’s plea agreement, the State is recommending a sentence of five years in New Jersey State Prison, 42 months without parole eligibility pursuant to the Graves Act on the weapons offense and 12 months on the Risking Widespread Damage charge. The sentences are to run consecutive to one another for a total of six years in New Jersey State Prison.

Sentencing in this case has been scheduled for March 29, 2021 before the Honorable John A. Young, Jr., J.S.C.

Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and the Jersey City Police Department for the investigation and arrest.

The State is represented in this case by Assistant Prosecutor Adam Salzer of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.