ATLANTIC CITY - A police officer is fighting for his life after being shot in the head outside the Caesars casino during a traffic stop early Saturday morning. Police killed a suspect before 5 others fled.

The shooting was the latest incident in a violent week in the Atlantic City area, which included a slaying of a store manager Thursday afternoon at a busy shopping district and a shootout along miles of highway earlier in the week.

Acting Atlantic City Prosecutor Diane Ruberton said two officers stopped a car for unspecified "criminal activity" at 2:34 a.m. in front of the Caesars casino on Arkansas and Atlantic avenues. As the officers approached the car one of the occupants fired at the officers hitting one in the head according to Atlantic City Police spokesman Sgt. Keith Fair.

The other officer shot at the suspects as they fled in different directions and hit at least one who was found dead a block away

No description of the five suspects was available but Fair said there was a "large police presence scouring the city for these individuals."

Authorities later released video they said showed the suspects.

The injured officer was taken to Atlanticare Regional Center, where the officer underwent surgery and in critical condition according to Fair.  Police did not identify the cop.

The NJ Cop Shot Reward program posted a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects. “Our hearts are heavy at this hour, but our resolve to captured these suspects remains undeterred," New Jersey State PBA President Patrick Colligan said

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian called the shooting "a sad commentary on society."

"These are good examples of what happens when too many of these assault weapons are in the wrong hands," he said.

Earlier in the week, a slaying and attempted suicide inside the stores at the The Walk shopping area left store manager Christopher Romero, 26, of Absecon, dead and gunman Luis Maisonet, 55, of Somers Point, in custody. Police described the shooting as a domestic dispute.

Earlier in the week a man was found dead in a car parked on the Garden State Parkway after a "rolling shootout" along miles of highway that ended with five people charged with various weapons and drug charges.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office is investigating all three cases.

 

 

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