Five cops shot in N.J. shootout; 2 suspects dead: Updates on earlier post

Associated Press

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Police investigate the scene of a shooting on Reed Street in Jersey City on Thursday July 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A running gunfight that erupted during a police stakeout of two armed robbery suspects ended Thursday morning with two suspects dead and five officers shot, two of them critically.

The shootout began in the street about 5 a.m. and ended when SWAT officers fought their way into an apartment where the man and woman had taken cover at about 6:45 a.m. The officers were met by shotgun blasts that ripped through the apartment building's walls and doors.

Residents of the complex said they awoke to the sounds of gunfire and police running down their halls.

Marlon Harrison, who lives on the second floor of the building, said he heard gunshots echo off the alleyway outside his window.

"It was like the Army out there," Harrison said. Continue reading