The shooting was on the sidewalk beside the park.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A Bloomfield resident was found fatally shot Monday morning, March 12, on the sidewalk along Milbank Park, on North 17th Street.
Aristedes Statiroudis, 43, was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:57 a.m., according to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly, of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. Bloomfield Public Safety Director Sam DeMaio, in a statement, said the incident did not appear to be a random act of violence.
“We see no indication at all that there will be future violence related to this incident,” he said. “This appears to be an isolated incident.” The fatal shooting was the second in the area within six weeks. In early February, a man was shot on the next block, Ampere Parkway.
A North 17th Street resident who agreed to speak anonymously about the Milbank Park shooting said they had just let their dog back into the house when they heard a popping sound.
“At 8:20 a.m., I let the dog back in,” they said. “The whole thing played out between 8:30 and 8:40 a.m. I was in the house and heard pop-pop. The pops were numerous.”
At first, they thought firecrackers.
“But because of what happened before — the shooting on Ampere — it makes you edgy,” they said.
On Feb. 3, 2018, an East Orange resident, Juan P. Santo-Martinez, 55, was found fatally shot, in a vehicle, on Ampere Parkway near Chester Avenue. Milbank Park is several doors from Chester Avenue.
“I saw someone coming from the park,” the resident continued. “He said, ‘Oh my god, call the police.’”
The resident said they learned from a nearby school crossing guard that the man who was shot had been out walking his dog.
“The crossing guard had seen the dog come running back,” the resident said. “She had seen the man with the dog. He lived on Ampere Parkway.”
The crossing guard had banged on the man’s door to alert anyone inside that something was wrong, the resident said the guard told them. In the past, the resident said they had seen either of two men walking the dog. One man was tall, the other was short. The resident said they put on their coat and went outside to the park.
“My neighbor was crying,” the resident said. “I went to the park and saw the blood. They were doing CPR on him for 20 minutes. A woman who is supposed to be his girlfriend said ‘He’s dead?’”
The resident said they could not tell if the tall man or short man had been shot. A detective asked to view footage from their home security camera. It provided no evidence.
“My camera will only show the side of a car the way it is angled,” they said.
The resident said they arrived late to work, having to cross under crime area tape. “I think the two shootings, back to back, is a little unnerving,” they said.
On Monday evening, at a school district event, Schools Superintendent Sal Goncalves said he and Carteret Elementary School Principal John Baltz had been advised by the Bloomfield Police Department following the shooting to lock down Carteret Elementary for 30 minutes. The incident is being investigated by the ECPO and the Bloomfield Police Department. Anyone with information is asked to call the ECPO Tips Line at 877-847-7432.
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