Gunfire on Springfield Avenue

https://www.rlsmedia.com/article/breaking-mplewood-nj-gunfire-strikes-man-maplewood

The condition of the victim has only been reported as "grave injuries" at this time.


Is this area of Maplewood generally unsafe? How abnormal is something like this?


Thinking about moving to the area soon...


The Hilton neighborhood is safe for the most part. Every now and then a car or a house is broken into, a few times a year. My biggest safety concern is people speeding, to be honest. Violence like this is not at all normal.

gpdoering said:

Is this area of Maplewood generally unsafe? How abnormal is something like this?




Thinking about moving to the area soon...



How horrible to lose your loved one that way. Condolences to the victim's family.


oh my goodness! Not good


You can find the name of the victim in news articles now. Not the first time that name has been in print.





Jackson_Fusion said:

You can find the name of the victim in news articles now. Not the first time that name has been in print.

suggests perhaps this was a hit



ml1 said:



Jackson_Fusion said:

You can find the name of the victim in news articles now. Not the first time that name has been in print.

suggests perhaps this was a hit

De mortuis and all, but if not a hit, assuming it’s the same guy, someone who had found trouble quite a few times. This time it seems to have found him.


No Pollyanna but I’d be no more worried about the restaurant he apparently was in than I would worry about Sparks Steakhouse.



Jackson_Fusion said:

You can find the name of the victim in news articles now. Not the first time that name has been in print.

It could be a coincidence  -- not that it has anything to do with this tragic situation -- but a person with a similar name and appearance appears to have been in the "life."  We must be careful not to draw hasty conclusions before all of the facts are in.



DottyParker said:



Jackson_Fusion said:

You can find the name of the victim in news articles now. Not the first time that name has been in print.

It could be a coincidence  -- not that it has anything to do with this tragic situation -- but a person with a similar name and appearance appears to have been in the "life."  We must be careful not to draw hasty conclusions before all of the facts are in.

Yep, as I said assuming it’s the same guy. 


I appreciate that you put “life” in quotations. It’s a lifestyle that often gets mythologized as exciting. If it is the same guy, just more proof that it ends as badly for the ones living in it as it is for the rest of society living with it. Bad outside Sparks Steakhouse, bad in a barber chair, bad sitting on your stoop, bad eating at a local food joint. 




Wow.  What an interesting trailhead.



Jackson_Fusion said:

You can find the name of the victim in news articles now. Not the first time that name has been in print.

It may or may not be the same person.  Brown is a common last name.  Altariq/Al Tariq is not exactly a unique first name either.  Personally, I know two different people with that same first name.  I don't know the man, and am not trying to defend him without knowing his background, I'm just saying that jumping to conclusions without any conclusive proof isn't wise


It's the potential author connection that I find intriguing.  Maybe publishing wasn't covered under the agreement somehow?


Maplewood is generally very safe.  As others have said, usually it's car break ins when people forget to lock their car and occasionally break ins when people are at work during the day.  You'll find far more people are upset over cars not stopping at pedestrian crosswalks and the new Starbucks in Maplewood Village.  

gpdoering said:

Is this area of Maplewood generally unsafe? How abnormal is something like this?




Thinking about moving to the area soon...



The small handful of homicides that have taken place in Maplewood since I moved here were all targeted attacks, meaning there was a specific connection between the attacker and the victims.  I don't ever recall a random homicide taking place during my residence in Maplewood.


Random Maplewood Murders: Christine Burns, a strong, wonderful woman, mother and teacher.

It is a miracle that more murders don't occur in Maplewwod, with some part being adjacent to Irvington, North Jersey's answer to Camden.



yahooyahoo said:

The small handful of homicides that have taken place in Maplewood since I moved here were all targeted attacks, meaning there was a specific connection between the attacker and the victims.  I don't ever recall a random homicide taking place during my residence in Maplewood.

Yes, this. We’ve been in Maplewood for 15 years, and off the top of my head this is perhaps the fourth homicide I can recall. All were of the nature described by yahooyahoo.


Unmentioned so far are the shootings, not necessarily lethal, at the Post Office, a gas station, a convenience store all on or close to Springfield over the last few years.  And outside a residence on Schaeffer.



mff said:

Unmentioned so far are the shootings, not necessarily lethal, at the Post Office, a gas station, a convenience store all on or close to Springfield over the last few years.  And outside a residence on Schaeffer.

there are too many guns in circulation.  And this data is from 2014, but it has remained pretty constant since, only about 20% of guns used in crimes in NJ were purchased in NJ.  Thanks to fairly lax laws in places like PA, VA, NC and other states, we can't keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/01/map_where_do_nj_criminals_get_their_guns_mostly_not_here.html

It is infuriating to hear gun enthusiasts claim that more stringent laws (like those in NJ which are completely compatible with the 2nd Amendmentwon't help because "criminals will just get guns anyway."  Well yes, currently they get them anyway because they buy them LEGALLY in other states and bring them here. Or black marketeers buy them legally in other states and sell them here.  If all 50 states had similar handgun laws as NJ, where do people think "criminals" would get their guns illegally?  Do they think gun manufacturers will go around and sell firearms on the black market?  Sure, there will be a black market for guns, but it won't be a fraction of the current LEGAL market in which criminals acquire their weapons.


It's reminiscent of an old news story, about an event from over 30 years ago: "After nearly two decades on death row, the man convicted of killing the owner of a Maplewood restaurant was re-sentenced to life in prison Thursday. In 1986, Anthony DiFrisco was paid $2,500 to murder the owner of Jack's Pizzeria. Detectives say he went in to the shop, took a bite out of a slice of pie and fatally shot Ed Potcher five times. Months later, in New York, DiFrisco was arrested for stealing a car and confessed to the murder. Detectives matched his teeth marks to the slice of pizza he bit at the crime scene."

http://newjersey.news12.com/story/34879937/convicted-maplewood-pizzeria-killer-freed-from-death-row-after-19-years


it could be a coincidence, but the guy with the same name also happens to be the same age as the guy who's been in the news before.

spontaneous said:



Jackson_Fusion said:

You can find the name of the victim in news articles now. Not the first time that name has been in print.

It may or may not be the same person.  Brown is a common last name.  Altariq/Al Tariq is not exactly a unique first name either.  Personally, I know two different people with that same first name.  I don't know the man, and am not trying to defend him without knowing his background, I'm just saying that jumping to conclusions without any conclusive proof isn't wise



Where was Jack's located?

nohero said:

It's reminiscent of an old news story, about an event from over 30 years ago: "After nearly two decades on death row, the man convicted of killing the owner of a Maplewood restaurant was re-sentenced to life in prison Thursday. In 1986, Anthony DiFrisco was paid $2,500 to murder the owner of Jack's Pizzeria. Detectives say he went in to the shop, took a bite out of a slice of pie and fatally shot Ed Potcher five times. Months later, in New York, DiFrisco was arrested for stealing a car and confessed to the murder. Detectives matched his teeth marks to the slice of pizza he bit at the crime scene."

http://newjersey.news12.com/story/34879937/convicted-maplewood-pizzeria-killer-freed-from-death-row-after-19-years



I had never heard of the murder of Mr. Potcher all those years ago. Here is some additional information:


http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-supreme-court/1464272.html


I’ll note there are articles about Mr. DiFrisco relaying continued legal maneuvering to get him out of prison that are relatively recent.




This is a very old murder case in Maplewood that has yet to be solved. There was a restaurant called Curly's next to the Maplewood Theater (now Roman Gourmet). A young waitress walked home from work and never arrived there. She lived with her parents on Jefferson near Valley. I think her body was found the next day in the backyard of a corner property on Sommer.I knew the owners of the house and they were shocked to find the body. Not long after that her parents moved to ,I think, Florida.  One of Maplewood's few murders.



yahooyahoo said:

Where was Jack's located?
nohero said:

It's reminiscent of an old news story, about an event from over 30 years ago: "After nearly two decades on death row, the man convicted of killing the owner of a Maplewood restaurant was re-sentenced to life in prison Thursday. In 1986, Anthony DiFrisco was paid $2,500 to murder the owner of Jack's Pizzeria. Detectives say he went in to the shop, took a bite out of a slice of pie and fatally shot Ed Potcher five times. Months later, in New York, DiFrisco was arrested for stealing a car and confessed to the murder. Detectives matched his teeth marks to the slice of pizza he bit at the crime scene."

http://newjersey.news12.com/story/34879937/convicted-maplewood-pizzeria-killer-freed-from-death-row-after-19-years

On the border with Vauxhall, next door to the other pizza place at that location.


This article is about homicides in Newark that took place in 2014.  81 of 93 homicides were gun related and all but two of the victims were black or Hispanic.  At the time of the article, there were no arrests made in 46 of the 93 cases.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/no-arrests-made-45-last-years-homicides-newark/




I recognize this post may be incendiary, and I apologize, but if accurate the truth is worse than an incendiary post.   There is an Altariq Brown  who is 30 who has been arrested several times in connection with significant drug busts.   I'm wondering if it is a coincidence that this shooting / murder occurred across the street from a street (in Maplewood)  where current residents have recently and repeatedly complained about drug activity on the street.  Over 20 years ago I heard the same complaints, when as a new realtor I showed an apartment on that street and was warned by other realtors that the street was known for drug dealing.   If this is true ( and I have no reason to disbelieve the person who lives there and reported it)  maybe , finally, the Maplewood police will do something about it. 


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