by JL Schneider
They couldn’t drive any farther than the warehouse because that was the end of the road, they would need to turn around. We weren’t sure exactly who we were dealing with but gang bangers would want to get there quickly and hit fast. I was hoping there would be only one car but needed to prepare for more. Carl was positioned between our warehouse and the one next to it closer to the gate. He would be the first to spot them coming in and have the rear to cover. Shelby would be behind a cement support next to the fence across the road from our warehouse. I would be between our warehouse and the fence directly to the front of the road. If all went as planned the bad guys would be in the center of our L with Carl at the top, Shelby on the end, and me in the bend. We set up in our positions and tested our communications. We were as ready as we were going to be.
1:48AM, a truck pulled up with three men in it. One man gets out and opens the large door and the truck backs into the warehouse, the door closes behind them. I give the lock and load command. We are all equipped with AR15s and multiple thirty round clips and all have been modified for automatic fire.
1:57AM Carl’s voice informs me that headlights are approaching from the gate area. Two sets of headlights, shit, two vehicles. Another report, the headlights had just gone off. A precaution on their part that was not really necessary given the front of the warehouse was bright as day from the overhead lighting. I am told the cars are passing Carl and he sees at least three occupants per car. Just as I am praying these aren’t the cops Carl reports one of the men is pointing a MAC 10 out of the window. Definitely not police, these were definitely the bad guys.
I spotted the lead car coming toward the fence. I heard Carl’s voice tell me the rear doors on the trailing car had opened and two men had emerged, both carrying weapons. I now saw them, they were running ahead of the cars toward the entrance to the warehouse. My guess was there job was to make sure the pickup men weren’t waiting outside. We were totally concealed and they were so focused on the front of the warehouse I doubt they would have noticed us. Shelby, who had been quite until now, confirmed he had eyes on them. They were driving into the center of our L.
The two runners stopped at the front of the warehouse and put their back against the front door, they then signaled the cars to approach. Both cars accelerated to the front of the warehouse and stopped. All the doors swung open and men began to exit. The two drivers opened their doors and stood next to the vehicles. The others advanced toward their buddies near the warehouse. I was waiting until they were clear of the cars, I didn’t want them to be able to use the cars for cover and extend the firefight.
When the others were halfway between the warehouse and the cars I fired on one of the two men standing in front of the warehouse. I had my rifle set on three shot burst and the first shots dropped the man closest to me. Shelby and Carl were waiting for my shot and then selected their assigned targets and began to fire. Shelby’s job was to take out the drivers. We didn’t need them using the cars as weapons. I focused on my second target and fired two burst, he dropped. I could hear others firing and looked toward the three men caught between the car and the warehouse, only one was still standing. He had turned toward Carl who was firing from the prone position to their right. Carl and I fired together and he spun and dropped. I turned toward the cars but couldn’t see the drivers. Shelby’s voice in my earphone told me they were down. All seven men were down on the ground, it was time to make sure they stayed that way. I told everyone to check their work. I headed toward the two men closest to the warehouse. They appeared to be dead and were bleeding very badly. I turned and approached the three men Carl and I had dropped. One was still moving, but they were all hit badly. There were a variety of weapons lying on the ground, all assault rifles of some sort. None of them would be a threat to us. Shelby’s voice said the drivers were finished, meaning they were down and no threat to us. The pickup men in the warehouse were probably trying to find another way out. I didn’t know what they were told but my guess was they had no idea this would happen, time for us to go.
I gave the all clear and told them it was time to go. Shelby was to head for the hole in the fence and secure that area, Carl was to pass through the fence and make sure our car was secure. I was hanging behind to make sure no one from the warehouse or the guards interfered. The entire event from first shot to this point had taken less than one minute. Shelby reported from the fence that it was secure and Carl was passing through. Thirty seconds later Carl reported our car was secure. I headed for the fence having seen no one coming to investigate. Shelby and I slipped through the fence and headed for the car. Carl had it running and the trunk open. We threw our gear in the trunk and I drove away. I know we were all on an adrenaline high but had to keep the speed and anxiety down. I entered I-676 North and crossed over into Philadelphia. We took I-95 North. I stayed on I-95 North and crossed the Betsy Roth Bridge back into New Jersey. I exited onto the Burlington Pike and continued north. I drove to Highway 9 continued north and exited onto Randolph Avenue. Randolph becomes Roosevelt Ave and enters Joseph Medwick Park. The park sits on a tidal outflow of the Hudson River. We parked in a secluded area and threw all our gear into the river. We tossed everything, guns, body armor, night vision, and radios. We double checked to make sure we hadn’t missed anything and headed back to Roosevelt Ave. From Roosevelt we entered the New Jersey Turnpike north and headed toward Newark. No one spoke, they knew I had this route imprinted in my brain and didn’t want to distract me.
Chapter 40
From the first shot to our arrival in Newark International Airport it had taken less than three hours. We pulled into Newark’s long term parking garage just before 5 AM. I parked the car on level three, where many others were already parked. I didn’t know how long it would take to notice this car being here, but since we purchased it with cash, used phony id, and put a stolen license plate on it, I assumed quite a while. We each had a small carry bag with a change of clothes. We had worn gloves the entire time but wiped the car down just in case. We each caught a different shuttle to different terminals. I was flying out of Newark at 7:55 AM through Atlanta and on to New Orleans. Shelby caught a shuttle at the B Concourse and then caught a cab to Times Square. He ate breakfast and at 9:30 AM caught another cab to LaGuardia Airport. Shelby’s reservation was for an 11:45 AM flight through Greensboro.
Carl left by cab from Concourse D. He took the cab to the Little Italy Section of Manhattan. After breakfast he caught a cab to JFK Airport. His 1:30 PM flight passed through Greensboro. Everyone was back in my house before 9 PM.
Chapter 41
The 10 PM news carried the story about the mass killing in New Jersey. A police spokesman said they believed the incident to be drug related. Apparently no drugs were found in the warehouse, just containers of cereal. Perroni wasn’t dumb enough to put his multi-million dollar drug shipment in jeopardy. The whole shipment had been a scam to get the other side to make a move, and they had. The authorities weren’t saying how many were killed but speculation was it was quite a few. Three men had been arrested at the scene and all the guards had been questioned. There was no doubt in my mind that none of them knew anything.
We had a couple of drinks with Rachael and Jasmine, but none of us mentioned New Jersey. Before I turned in I checked the balance on several offshore accounts I had. An additional eighteen million dollars had been deposited between them. I quickly made several electronic transfers to other accounts and turned in.
The next morning Perroni called. The heat was on in New Jersey and everyone would lay low for a couple of months. That suited us fine, we felt we needed a rest. The one week we had worked on the New Jersey job had taken its toll. We all felt like we had been at hard labor for six months. A vacation was in order, so we planned a couple of weeks in the Virgin Islands.
Chapter 42
Detective Lieutenant James O’Shea
James O’Shea had been a cop for twenty four years. His father had been a cop and his father’s father h
ad been a cop. It was in his bloodline. He had started pounding a beat in New York City, had retired after twenty years with NYPD having had his gold shield for fourteen years. He moved to Camden to get out of the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. His experience got him a Detective position with the Camden Police Department. He was now the lead homicide investigator in the Camden Homicide Division. He had seen many gruesome scenes in New York and Camden during his long career, but nothing to match what he was about to see tonight.
His phone had begun to ring at the same time as his beeper began to chirp at 2:47AM. The Chief of detectives himself had called. After that first call and while he was dressing his phone rang four more time. Everyone it seemed wanted him to get to the Camden docks ASAP. During the forty minute drive he spoke with the Watch Commander and Sergeant on the scene. The first unit to respond had come across a real mess, now it was his job to sort it out. As he pulled through the main gates he was greeted with a sea of flashing lights. It looked like every Camden PD, New Jersey State Police, and Federal cop car in New Jersey was there. He hoped someone had secured the area to preserve any evidence, but he doubted it. He knew the first thing he had to do was restore order and secure the area.
After weaving his way through several cars he spotted the Watch Commander. He knew the Commander only by reputation. It was said he was putting in his time and just wanted to coast to retirement. He parked and as he approached the Commander he spotted the two vehicles close to the last warehouse. The doors were open and a body was lying next to each. He shook hands with the Commander and looked past him at the scene. Uniform cops were milling everywhere; no one had taken any responsibility to secure the scene. He quickly found the Sergeant and ordered the area cordoned off. It was probably too late but he needed to preserve any evidence not yet disturbed. The Sergeant moved everyone back and strung tape across the area.
As O’Shea approached the rear of the cars he saw the bodies on the other side. The bodies were lying at various angles and there were rubber gloves and bandages laying everywhere. The Paramedics who arrived just after the first patrol car had tried to save a couple still breathing. He counted two bodies in this group. He had already seen the two by the car. That made four dead, just then the Sergeant pointed out the two other bodies lying next to the warehouse. Jesus, that made six, this could turn out to be the mess that caused him to retire for good. The Sergeant’s radio squawked and he stepped away to answer it. O’Shea was just beginning to examine the first body when the Sergeant told him number seven was pronounced dead at the hospital. He hadn’t even known the Paramedics had taken one away. Seven dead, this was a nightmare, he kept wishing he hadn’t answered the phone. His Captain arrived, the Chief of Detectives arrived, the Chief of Police arrived, this was turning into a real cluster. Everyone would be turning to him for answers and at the moment, he had none.
He questioned the first uniform cop on the scene. He had only about one year on the force and this scene had him shaken. O’Shea was finally able to calm him down enough to speak. He and his partner had rolled up on the scene of a shots fired report. The call had been broadcast at 2:13 AM and he had arrived on the scene at 2:18 AM. The main gate had been open and no one in site. He had rolled through the facility and spotted the cars stopped at the end of the road. He spotted the bodies and immediately called for backup. He waited and the backup unit had arrived at 2:23 AM. They called for rank, EMS units, and more backup and began a search of the area. The EMS units had arrived and determined only two individuals were still alive. One of them was beyond help so they started an IV and rushed the other one into the ambulance for transport. The search had located three individuals hiding in the warehouse behind several containers. They were all unarmed. They were cuffed and by that time more units had arrived. Two guards were found in the guard shack and taken into custody for questioning. Other uniforms were searching the area including the other warehouses. Spent shell casings were found and marked. That was the extent of the report, no one had fired on the officers and no armed individuals spotted. O’Shea thanked him and told him to standby in case he was needed. He asked the Sergeant if anyone had begun a search of the surrounding area. None had been started and no road blocks had been established. It was now an hour and a half since the shots were fired and O’Shea knew the shooter was no doubt long gone. At that moment he wished he were anywhere but here. He knew this was no gang hit, this was pros and there would be very few clues. He was hoping anyone, State Police, FBI, DEA, anybody would take jurisdiction. But all these agencies knew the odds of solving this one were not good. No one wanted any part of it. He was stuck.
Since the area was now secure he began with a search of the warehouse. He was hoping this would lead to a reason. He had other detectives begin opening containers. With the assumption drugs were involved. He had drug dogs brought in to aid in the search. Other detectives were questioning the three men taken into custody in the warehouse. They were all telling the same story. They were hired to pick up a container from the warehouse and they had no idea what was in it. They also swore they had no idea who had hired them, a man had loaned them a truck and paid cash. The truck turned out to be stolen. Hours of searching inside the warehouse turned up nothing. A canvas of the few occupied building around the facility turned up nothing. The 911 call had been made by a night watchman in a warehouse on the north side of the wharf. He heard the shooting but had seen nothing. The facility’s guards weren’t talking. They both said they had accidentally left the gate open and had been in another section of the wharf when the shooting started. O’Shea knew these bozos were lying, but he also knew they were too stupid to be involved in something this big. The three men and the two guards were taken to headquarters for questioning, but he knew it would lead nowhere.
Three locations around the stopped cars had shell casings on the ground. He looked at the location of each and could see the pattern. The ambush had been very well planned. The killers had set a trap and sprung it from three sides. The crossfire would leave nowhere for the victims to run. They were doomed as soon as they left their cars. O’Shea was hoping the casing could be traced back to the buyer. The odds of that were slim. He knew he could find the original wholesaler and possibly the original retailer. After that it was a crap shoot. This stuff could have been resold dozens of times. Every casing needed to be checked for finger prints, good luck with that, these were pros. Not likely they handled the casing without gloves. A uniform found the section of fence that had been cut out. A though search found foot prints and indications that someone had passed through the hole. Maybe they handled the fence and some DNA could be extracted; only time would tell. On the assumption this was the route the killers had taken every building and vehicle on that side of the facility would need to be searched. Of course, this hole could have been here for years and the killers could have just walked thought the gate.
Six hours later and he had no more information than he had when he first arrived. Seven men were dead, probably three shooters, no drugs, five people in custody, and no answers. The three men from the warehouse were hired by a bearded man in a waterfront bar. No names, cash payment, stolen truck, dead end. The FBI had some of the shell casings and they were running them through some test. All they knew at this time was they were probably fired from AR-15s. The slugs were being removed from the corpses. They would probably confirm that there were three shooters and the shells were fired from three assault rifles.
The dead men had long records and were known to be from a Hispanic gang in the Chicago area. Chicago PD and the FBI were trying to run down there associates and find out what they were doing in New Jersey. Even though these were gang bangers this still didn’t look like a gang hit, to clean and too professional. These guys were set up, but why? All the containers in the warehouse had come into the port on a container ship that Friday and been offloaded into this warehouse. They all contained a cereal compound from China used in making dog food. Every container and every box was being sea
rched as well as every container in every warehouse in the entire facility, so far, nothing.
A detective viewing all the videos recorded along the fence line noticed movement by the hole in the fence. The lighting was very poor and even with enhancement you could see three shapes moving in at 1:45 AM and then moving out at 2:11 AM. This squared with the 911 shots fired call. All they could tell was it was three individuals wearing dark clothing with hoods on. No one looked up at the camera at any time.
The FBI called with a report on the shell casings. They had the original dates of manufacturer and the original retailers. They were from seven different lots shipped around the country. Local PDs in those areas would see if they could determine who had purchased them. Unfortunately no records of ammo purchases were required by law. They also had a report on a few of the slugs remove from the bodies. They were definitely from three different ARs. They were being run through their computer system looking for a match on the markings, but so far nothing.
The area where the shell casings were found was carefully checked. A few fibers were found and were being analyzed. The Chicago PD had determined the gang members had come to New Jersey to take down a drug shipment. Since no drugs were found it supported the theory that this was a setup. Every snitch in Chicago and New Jersey was being roused looking for any information available.
