A 14-year-old boy allegedly killed Newark Detective Joseph Azcona after flashing a gun on Instagram just before the shooting. The teen, already known to police, opened fire when confronted, leaving one officer dead and another seriously wounded.
A 14-year-old boy from Newark is accused of fatally shooting a detective just 40 minutes after flashing the murder weapon during a live Instagram video. Authorities say the teen showed off the ghost gun to intimidate a rival, setting off a chain of events that ended with the March 7 killing of Detective Joseph Azcona.
The teen left his North 9th Street home around 5:50 p.m. to meet friends at a nearby White Castle. There, he streamed himself handling the gun. Law enforcement sources confirmed the same weapon, modified with a device to fire automatically, was used to gun down Azcona.
Police were already monitoring the teen’s social media due to previous arrests, including robbery and other serious crimes. When they saw the video, officers and ATF agents rushed to the scene in unmarked cars.
