Gun violence is nothing new in Asbury Park, a 1.4-square-mile city. There were 43 shootings last year by late October, or one per week.
Two men were shot Thursday night at the corner of Mattison and DeWitt avenues, a neighborhood one resident said is “owned by gangs.”
The shootings bring to seven the number of people who have been shot in the city since the beginning of the year — three of those shootings were on or near DeWitt Avenue.
One shooting victim was identified as a 30-year-old man from Bridgeport, Conn., and the other was a 23-year-old local man, according to Charles Webster, a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Webster said he did not know whether the victims’ injuries were life-threatening.
Both men were rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and their conditions were not available as of 11 p.m.
“It’s the wild, wild West out here. The gangs own this neighborhood,” said Liam Boland, 47, who lives on DeWitt Avenue, and is the landlord for six homes in the neighborhood.
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