An outbreak of gunfire in the New Jersey town of Newark left several people wounded Monday, police said.
Detectives said they were "in the early stages of an investigation into the circumstances that resulted in several people being shot."
"Officers encountered at least four people suffering from gunshot injuries," a statement from the Newark Police Department said. "The condition of the victims is not known at this time."
The news site nj.com reported that six people had been hit in the gunfire at the public housing complex.
According to police, the shootings appeared to be drug-trade related.
Newark is among several towns in New Jersey that have been forced to make radical cuts in police manpower in response to a state budget crisis, although special federal funding has helped reverse some of those losses.
Camden, New Jersey, which is regularly listed as one of the most violent towns in the United States, slashed almost half its force in January. Local news reports say that some categories of violent crime have soared there since then.
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