Elizabeth, New Jersey: One Dead, Six Wounded in Shooting on Irvington Avenue

Update: Prosecutors put the toll at five shot, and say the gunfire hit a candlelight vigil

Updated 16:29 UTC, Oct. 27, 2026. The Union County Prosecutor's Office said on Tuesday that five people were shot in Elizabeth on Monday night, correcting the higher early counts reported from the scene. One person was pronounced dead at the scene and the other four were being treated at a hospital on Tuesday, with no arrest made, USA Today reported, citing Lauren Farinas, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office. Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said police received the report of shots fired just after 9:30 p.m. in a neighborhood where a candlelight vigil was taking place. CBS News reported the vigil was held in remembrance of a man who was fatally shot in the neighborhood about seven years ago. People reported that a red sedan was seen fleeing after the shooting and was found burning in Newark about an hour later, and that a father said his 18 year old son was among the wounded and was fighting for his life. Investigators have not released a motive.

One person was killed and six others were wounded in a shooting in Elizabeth, New Jersey on Monday night, and police were still searching for the gunman early Tuesday.

The gunfire broke out shortly before 9:45 p.m. on Monday, October 26, in the 400 block of Irvington Avenue, near the corner of Elmwood Place, according to reports from the scene. CBS News New York reported that police confirmed at least one person was killed in the shooting. Times Now World and WION, reporting from Elizabeth, put the toll at one person dead and six people injured.

The wounded were taken to University Hospital in Newark for treatment, according to those reports. Their names, ages and conditions had not been released early Tuesday, and the Elizabeth Police Department had not yet issued an official statement setting out the details of the attack or a possible motive.

Shell casings across the street

ABC7 Eyewitness News reported a major police investigation at the scene overnight, with shell casings found across the street near the corner. Video from the area showed a heavy presence of emergency vehicles, and helicopters circled over the neighborhood while officers worked, according to Times Now World.

Early counts from the scene differed, as they often do in the first hour of a shooting with several victims. The first dispatch reports said at least five people had been shot. Later counts from local and national outlets settled at seven people shot in total: the person who died and six wounded.

Search for a red sedan

Police radio traffic from the scene described a red sedan, possibly a Nissan, fleeing west on Morris Avenue toward the neighboring city of Union, and dispatchers said a long gun may have been used. Those details came from radio traffic and early scene reports, and officials had not confirmed them in a public statement by early Tuesday.

The Union County Prosecutor's Office has been notified and is involved in the investigation, according to Times Now World. No arrest had been announced by early Tuesday, and investigators had not said whether the victims were targeted or caught in gunfire aimed at someone else.

The shooting is the second time in three days that a crowd in the region has come under fire after a sporting event weekend. In Tallahassee, Florida, police on Monday announced charges against a 15 year old in a Saturday night shooting near Florida A&M University that wounded 12 people. Elizabeth police have given no indication of any link between the two cases, and none has been reported.

Anyone with information about the Elizabeth shooting is being asked by investigators to come forward, according to local reports. This story will be updated as officials release the victims' names, the conditions of the wounded and any description of a suspect.