Detectives did not identify a motive in the shooting of 28-year-old Fred "Mr. Pooh" Scott in front of a home on Highland Avenue.
TRENTON — A reputed city gang member was shot several times including once in the head late Thursday night and was in critical condition late yesterday, authorities said.
Detectives did not identify a motive in the shooting of 28-year-old Fred “Mr. Pooh” Scott in front of a home on Highland Avenue. But Scott was implicated in a gang war last year that took place on and around Stuyvesant Avenue — of which Highland Avenue is a side street.
Earlier this year, Scott was arrested and faced tampering charges after he allegedly tried to intimidate a witness in a case against him. During a bail hearing in that case, prosecutors called him a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang.
The most recent shooting is the first to be investigated by the newly combined Mercer County Homicide Task Force, which sent the Trenton Police Department’s homicide unit over to the county. Detectives from both agencies will work the case.
Police were called out to the 200 block of Highland Avenue at 11:55 p.m. on a shooting call, said Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
There, they found an unresponsive Scott, shot multiple times including his head wound.
Scott was rushed to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition. No suspects have been identified in the case, and no descriptions were available yesterday.
Earlier this year, authorities listed Elmhurst Avenue, another Stuyvesant Avenue side street, as Scott’s address.
He was allegedly involved in a series of back-and-forth shootings last year along a small stretch of Stuyvesant Avenue. Last Christmas Day, Scott allegedly tried to assassinate a rival by shooting 20 rounds at him, but missed and struck a woman in the shoulder instead, prosecutors said in court in February.
The woman, who was not Scott’s target, assisted the police investigation but later received word Scott intended to retaliate. She went to the prosecutor’s office in January, sure she would not survive a weekend, according to court testimony.
Scott was later charged with witness tampering — a first-degree offense.
Trenton Detective Jason Snyder and county Detective Matt Norton are the lead investigators.
Anyone with information can reach them at (609) 989-6406, or call the Trenton police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com
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