Three city residents were wounded in the shooting at Galilee Baptist Church, police said.
By Jenna Pizzi and Brendan McGrath
TRENTON — As nearly 100 mourners, dressed in purple and white, gathered this afternoon for the funeral of Cagney Roberts, a 19-year-old who was shot and killed earlier this month, the service was interrupted by a spray of gunfire.
Three city residents were wounded in the shooting at Galilee Baptist Church, police said.
“We heard the shots and we just got to the ground,” said a woman who identified herself as Roberts’ first cousin. She did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation.
“It was just so shocking,” she said.
Two men, ages 20 and 32, remained in stable condition at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton tonight, and a 25-year-old woman was treated and released after suffering a leg wound, Lt. Steve Varn said.
Police said the shooters opened fire just after noon outside the church, located on Martin Luther King Boulevard, Police Director Ralph Rivera said. Police said that it was unclear whether there any shots had been fired from within the church, but Rev. John Harris, who was about to begin his sermon in the church sanctuary when shots rang out, said that it sounded like some of the shots were coming from the church lobby.
Roberts was shot to death April 9 in the area of Saint Joes and Girard avenues. Two other men were wounded. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said today that shooting remains under investigation and no arrests have been made.
Roberts did not belong to the Galilee congregation, nor did most of the hundreds of attendees of the service, Harris said. The reverend wanted Roberts to have a funeral and wanted attendees who did not regularly attend church to have an opportunity hear a sermon, he said.
“When I got to the sermon,” Harris said. “Shots rang out.”
After the shots stopped, Harris said that he figured police had acted. Then, about ten seconds later, another round of shots rang out, he said.
Police were stationed at the church when the gunfire erupted.
“Patrol was here,” Rivera said. “They were outside in the parking lot.”
Because they were already on scene, Rivera said they were able to stop a suspicious car and arrest one man, who was found in possession of a loaded weapon, Rivera said. Police had not identified the suspect tonight. While it appears there were multiple shooters, Varn said, no other arrests had been made and police did not provide information on other suspects.
Rivera said police located a total of five weapons — two more in the vehicle, one from inside the church and another in a gravel lot nearby.
“We were trying to be proactive,” Rivera said. “We cannot stop crime from occurring. When something’s going to happen criminals will wait for that moment, but we will do our best.”
As police arrived and cleared out the church, Roberts’ friends and family members poured onto the streets decked out in purple and white — Roberts’ favorite colors — and watched as police began their investigation. Shaking their heads in disbelief many attempted to find a way to get their vehicles from beyond the police tape denoting the shooting scene from the church on the 400 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to the intersection with Pennington Avenue near the Trenton War Memorial.
In a gravel lot where many cars with the “funeral” placards in the windows were parked, police stood watch over a black handgun on the ground in the area of two cars. Police also marked off shell casings on the ground around a gray van parked across from the double doors at the front of the church.
Trenton Police, the State Police and Mercer County Sheriff’s Officers were on the scene investigating.
Rivera said the police department has already been working with the church and Harris in an anti-violence effort with local religious groups, and that effort will continue.
“Pastor Harris said his commitment is stronger now because we need to find solutions,” Rivera said.
Anyone with information about either shooting is asked to contact the homicide task force at (609) 989-6406 or the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.
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