NEWARK, N.J., May 28 (UPI) -- A fight between two girls led to the killing of a Newark, N.J., police officer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, authorities say.
Officer William Johnson was off-duty and unarmed Thursday night when two assailants fired into a restaurant where he was eating pizza, police told The (Newark) Star-Ledger. He died five hours later.
A 21-year-old man was shot in the stomach and was in stable condition Friday. A 19-year-old woman, hit in the shoulder, was treated and released. Authorities did not identify them.
Unhurt was the intended target, a girl who had fought with another girl that evening. Law enforcement officials said one of the girls complained to a relative or boyfriend, who carjacked a vehicle and headed for the eatery.
Acting Police Director Samuel DeMaio announced Friday that Rasul McNeil-Thomas, 19, was arrested on carjacking and gun charges. He was termed a "person of interest" in the killing and is being held in lieu of $300,000 bail.
A second suspect remained at large.
