According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 7:45 p.m. last night, troopers from the Metro North Unit observed a 2005 Audi, bearing a Pennsylvania license plate traveling within the City of Newark. The vehicle had been reported stolen as a result of an armed carjacking that occurred earlier in the day in Newark. The troopers pursued the suspect’s vehicle through Newark and onto Interstate 78. Due to safety concerns, the pursuit was terminated only to be resumed later by Summit Township Police. The suspect’s vehicle was pursued back into Newark and struck a State Police cruiser which had been positioned at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Lincoln Park. The suspect vehicle continued forward and struck a marked Newark Police vehicle head-on. When troopers and officers exited their vehicle to approach the suspect’s vehicle, the Audi backed up and accelerated forward towards them. The troopers and officers fired their service weapons to defend themselves and the suspect’s vehicle fled the scene. The Audi eventually traveled onto 18th Street, struck numerous parked vehicles, a State Police unmarked vehicle, until impacting a scaffolding at the corner of 18th Street and Livingston Street. The driver then tried to reengage the vehicle in reverse as police officers and troopers opened fire again, this time stopping the suspect at 9:50 p.m. from causing further harm.

The suspect, Corey Bland, DOB 12-26-73, of Newark, sustained several gunshot wounds and was removed from the vehicle and transported to University Hospital in Newark where he remains in critical but stable condition.

The troopers and officers whose vehicles were struck by the Audi were also treated for minor injuries.

Bland has been charged with nine counts of 2nd-degree attempted murder, nine counts of 2nd-degree aggravated assault and three counts of 3rd-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose (vehicle). Additional charges are pending.

The incident remains under investigation by the Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team. Under an Attorney General Directive, the Shooting Response Team, made up of deputy attorneys general, detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice and detectives of the State Police Major Crime Unit, are dispatched to the scene to handle investigations of such incidents.