HACKENSACK (WABC) — Two teenagers have been charged after another teenager was stabbed multiple times outside the Hackensack Police Station.
18-year-old Joaquin Morris Jr. and a 16-year-old juvenile have been charged in the stabbing of a 16-year-old on Tuesday, Bergen County Prosecutors Mark Musella said.
Prosecutors said a 16-year-old was involved in an altercation at the intersection of Central Avenue and Union Street with another juvenile and Morris Jr.
During the altercation, the 16-year-old juvenile produced a large machete that was in his possession and swung the weapon at Morris Jr. multiple times, prosecutors said.
At the same time, Morris Jr. produced a knife that was in his possession and swung the knife multiple times, stabbing the 16-year-old juvenile in the torso, prosecutors said.
The victim was located by first responders after the other juvenile and Morris Jr. fled the scene and took the victim to the hospital, where he is in stable condition, officials said.
The 16-year-old juvenile was charged with juvenile delinquency, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon, officials said.
Morris Jr. was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and possession of a weapon, officials said.
Morris Jr. was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in court, officials said.
After the incident, the 16-year-old victim’s family spoke to Eyewitness News and said the incident wasn’t random and that the teen had been targeted before.
The aunt of the 16-year-old victim told council members that several suspects chased her nephew for blocks before pouncing. They were in a black BMW with a paper license plate, she said.
She said the boy’s family pulled him from Hackensack High School earlier this year over ongoing concerns for his safety, including people showing up to her sister’s house in ski masks.
“They feel like, you know, you’re a man because you got a weapon. But these are babies. You know what I’m saying? Like. And in this. This is a this is sad. It is scary,” the victim’s father said.
The aunt said the police told her it was the school district’s responsibility, since the dispute started in the high school.
Hackensack Mayor Caseen Gaines later said that was unacceptable.
The aunt said the family has made numerous complaints to the Hackensack School Board and to police.
Officials have not said what caused the altercation.
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