Police fatally shoot teenager

Officers shot and killed a Montclair teenager who had earlier fired at a motorist and then engaged officers in a gunfight late Friday, Montclair police said Saturday.

A motorist driving westbound on Holt Avenue, west of Central Avenue in Montclair, at 11:47 p.m. saw the young man, 18, walking alone northbound on a sidewalk, Capt. Chris Weiske said.

“The victim didn’t notice anything unusual about the man until he passed him and saw him raise his arm up and shoot,” Weiske said. The motorist told police that a bullet struck his vehicle but he was unhurt, Weiske said. Police later found a shell casing in the vicinity.

The gunman, whose identity was not released, began walking away and the motorist followed him in his car while speaking to police on his cellphone, Weiske said.

Two officers arrived as the man reached the corner of Central and Bandera Street and were exiting their vehicles when he began shooting at them with a 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol, Weiske said.

As a third officer arrived, the first officers fired back at the gunman, striking him twice, Weiske said. He was transported to Montclair Hospital, where he was briefly revived before dying just before 1 a.m. Saturday.

-- Tiffany Hsu