By Canadian Press

Heavy gunfire reported in Jersey City neighbourhood

Dec 10, 2019 | 1:14 PM

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Heavy gunfire was exchanged Tuesday for at least an hour in a Jersey City neighbourhood.

SWAT teams responded to the scene, and police have blocked off the major thoroughfare. Loud volleys of gunfire could be heard at regular intervals but subsided around 2 p.m. in the city, which is just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

Video shows a line of police officers armed with weapons pointed in several directions walking down the sidewalk. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says it is responding.

Dozens of bystanders pressed against the police barrier to film the action on cellphones, some whooping when gunfire bursts filled the air.

The area has a Catholic school, a few convenience stories, a kosher supermarket and a hair stylist. Phones rang unanswered at several nearby businesses. The Catholic parish, Sacred Heart, has closed, and no one answered at its associated school.

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Andy Patel works at a liquor store about three blocks away from the site of the shooting site and said there had been consistent gunfire fire about an hour Tuesday afternoon.

“I can hear the gunshots. It’s like firecrackers going off. They were shooting like crazy about an hour ago. Then it stopped for like 20 or 30 minutes. The cops were clearing everyone off the streets,” said Patel.

David Porter, The Associated Press