PATERSON — Law enforcement authorities said that they found a man fatally shot in front of a Van Houten Street home – the city’s fourth homicide of the year.
Police found the man, identified by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office as 39-year-old Rodney Phelps from Washington Township, at 11:20 p.m. Friday after being dispatched to the area “in response to shots fired,” according to a news release issued by the prosecutor’s office and the Paterson Police Department.
“Medical personnel arrived and the male victim was pronounced deceased on scene,” authorities said in the release.
All four of the city’s homicides have taken place in the 4th Ward – including one case in which the weapon used was a rock. Friday’s homicide was the 12th shooting reported in the city this year – the 10th in the 4th Ward.
As cities across the nation saw a rise in homicides on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paterson set records for homicides in each of the last two years, with 27 in 2020 and 29 in 2021.
The latest homicide occurred just three days after another fatal shooting outside of an apartment building on East 19th Avenue. Police said that a 43-year-old Paterson resident, Juan Soto, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities said that anyone with information may call the prosecutor’s office tip line at 1-877-370-PCPO or [email protected] or may call the the Paterson Police detective bureau at 973-321-1120.
Joe Malinconico of the Paterson Press and staff writer Melanie Anzidei contributed to this article.
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