Two people were killed and eight others were hospitalized after multiple gunmen walked up to a block party in Trenton, New Jersey, and fired into the crowd early on August 30, 2026. No one has been arrested, and authorities have not released a motive.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has the lead in the case, with the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton Police Department assisting. Detectives have been going through surveillance video and canvassing for witnesses to a gathering that officials say pulled roughly 100 people onto a single residential block.

How the Shooting Unfolded

Family members and friends described the event as a neighborhood cookout, which officials said drew a crowd to the 100 block of Locust Street on the night of August 29. Shortly after midnight, at about 12:23 a.m., multiple suspects approached the party and opened fire into the crowd, according to the prosecutor’s office.

A woman who said she was at the cookout and asked not to be named put the crowd at about 150 people when the first shots rang out. Partygoers thought the shooting had stopped after an initial burst, she said, and then it started again. She did not know how many people were firing.

Roughly 15 separate calls reporting gunshot victims on Locust Street were captured on police dispatch audio. Arriving officers found multiple victims spread across a crime scene that ran the length of the block, and gunfire damaged several vehicles. Detectives collected more than 50 spent shell casings. Officers from Ewing and Hamilton Township responded to help.

Ambulances and private vehicles carried the wounded to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, 2 miles from the scene. Tape closed off one hospital entrance that morning, and a damaged vehicle parked at the emergency room entrance was towed away. A woman outside the medical center said her nephew had been shot in the head.

Two Killed, Eight Hospitalized

Ten people in all were shot, and two of them did not survive. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office identified them as Tyasiah West, 33, and Anthony Howlett, 42, both of Trenton. In a report published September 2, relatives gave the man’s name as Yahsim Howlett, 42, and identified his son, who spoke to 6abc, as Anthony Howlett.

Two women and six men, ranging in age from 23 to 43, made up the eight survivors taken to the hospital. Four were treated and released. Three men, ages 23, 29 and 32, remained in critical condition, and a 42-year-old woman was listed in stable condition.

The casualty numbers shifted in the hours after the gunfire. A statement issued that morning by the office of Trenton Mayor W. Reed Gusciora put the toll at two dead and nine wounded, and the 11-shot figure traveled widely before the prosecutor’s office settled on eight wounded and 10 shot. The mayor also put the crowd at about 200 people at what he called a large, unauthorized gathering of adults — a larger estimate than the roughly 100 the prosecutor’s office has given.

Community members said Howlett had been working to rebuild his life after coming home from incarceration, and that recognition for that work came only hours before he was killed. “He was honored earlier that day for being an activist, for being a good person,” said Perry Shaw of the Trenton Community Street Team. The honor came at the Operation Capital City awards ceremony, which recognized him for rebuilding his life after prison. Omar Aikens, the event’s founder and Howlett’s cousin, said: “I tried to create something for us to be proud of, give us our flowers while we’re here, and it’s sad how it ended.” Howlett told the audience: “Before I leave, I’m going to tell y’all this, God has blessed me and I’m doing good now.”

His mother, Lea Howlett, told 6abc in the September 2 report: “My son did not deserve this. You have broken me. You have broken my grandson.”

His brother, Kyzir Carmichael, said in the same report that Howlett had gotten to the party moments before the shooting started. “I literally talked to him for three minutes, and three minutes later a young lady is telling me he is on the ground fighting for his life,” Carmichael told 6abc.

Questions Over Permits and Police Presence

Gusciora met with reporters on Sunday afternoon and traced the violence to an unauthorized event that spiraled beyond control. A permit, an approved street closure and hired security are required for large gatherings in Trenton, he said, and he urged residents who want a block party to clear it with the city and police first. “Ten victims is unconscionable,” he told reporters. “This is not about criminalizing people for gathering together. It is about recognizing the difference between a gathering and hundreds of people occupying a residential street without authorization.”

Officers watched the crowd grow through the night, and a street supervisor ordered that extra attention be paid to it, Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson said. “I do believe that there was actually a unit present when the shooting happened,” he said. “Unfortunately, the crowd was larger than the police presence and even sometimes with the presence of police, these things happen.”

Not everyone in the neighborhood is satisfied with that answer, and neighbors said the party should have been broken up long before the shooting. “You going to tell me that they couldn’t shut this down?” Trenton resident Grace Fernandez said. “They knew that they didn’t have a permit, so why blame the people?” She lives three blocks away.

Outreach in Wilbur and East Trenton

Addressing people who live in the Wilbur section and East Trenton, Gusciora said community outreach teams would go into both neighborhoods to talk with residents, learn what they had heard and try to head off retaliation. “You should not have to accept this as normal,” the mayor said. “Your block should not become an event venue for hundreds of people without notice or authorization.”

Wilson, for his part, said officers on the scene cannot always stop people bent on destruction. Gusciora has pushed residents to report what they know, saying that speaking up can prevent violence in the future.

Investigators are still appealing for help. As of August 31, no arrests had been made, and investigators asked that information be called in to 609-989-6406, with anonymous online tips also accepted. Anyone with information or video from the 100 block of Locust Street is asked to contact Detective Jennifer Eyster of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force through the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.