Boy, 8, Is Fatally Shot in Newark, Officials Say

A man wounded by gunfire was found several blocks from where the child was killed around the same time, but officials declined to say whether the shootings were related.

An 8-year-old boy was fatally shot Friday evening in Newark about three blocks from where a 36-year-old man who had been wounded by gunfire was found, the authorities said.

The wounded man was found at 38 Yates Street, and the child was killed near 130 Osborne Terrace, said Carmen Martin, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The shootings took place shortly before 6 p.m., she said.

Ms. Martin declined to say whether the man and the child had any relationship to each other, whether the shootings were connected or whether any arrests had been made. Neither victim was identified, and Ms. Martin said the investigation was continuing.

The Newark Police Department declined to comment.

Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, has struggled with crime for years. Statistics released last month showed that the number of homicides in the city had dropped more than 20 percent last year, although violent crime rose overall.

Amid that increase, Newark officials said last June that the city would begin enforcing a nightly curfew for people under 18 that had been on the books, but largely ignored, since 1992.