On the late afternoon of August 21, 2017, gunfire erupted in the 700 block of South 19th Street in Newark. Shirlena Coke, a 22-year-old Black woman from nearby Bloomfield, was among four people struck around 5:45 p.m. Two of the male victims were found at the shooting scene; a third male later presented at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston. All four were taken to area hospitals. The three men survived with non-life-threatening injuries, but Coke died at University Hospital a short time later.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force and the Newark Police Department opened an active investigation. Authorities withheld the men’s identities for their safety, said no motive had been determined, and said it was unclear whether Coke or the men with her were the intended targets. No suspects had been identified and no arrests were announced.

If anyone was in or near the 700 block of South 19th Street that afternoon or has information about who fired on the group, please come forward.