Reports of gunfire that erupted outside a charter school and library in Newark placed the school on lockdown mode early this morning.
According to information reported to parents this afternoon by school officials at the New Horizon Charter School, staff and students were placed on lockdown mode at around 9:30 a.m after hearing what sounded like multiple rounds of gunfire in the area. Officials said the gunfire noise was followed by heavy police presence a short time later.
School officials were reportedly informed by police that upon further investigation of the scene, the gunfire sound was an apparent domestic dispute that left a window smashed out in the area according to school officals.
School officials informed parents that all the children were safe and would be dismissed at the normal school closing time.
Residents in the area said they also heard loud popping noises and reported seeing a man near the library seriously injured from what appeared to be gunfire.
A spokesperson from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office could not confirm a fatality as of earlier today.