DEA: Suspect shot during ongoing drug investigation in Fort Lee
FORT LEE, N.J. -- What started as a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation turned into a shooting on Tuesday afternoon in Bergen County.
The DEA agents were trying to arrest someone as part of an ongoing drug investigation in Fort Lee. A suspect wound up getting shot in the leg.
Whiteman Street was littered with shell casings near Lemoine Avenue. The windshield of a crashed sedan was riddled with bullet holes.
Brian Aragonez told CBS2 he heard gunshots. He added he was looking outside and saw a pickup truck pull into his driveway, and then investigators got out.
He recorded video from his window.
"I felt kind of scared. I mean, my son was with me and my first reaction was, 'Hey, get down, get down,'" Aragonez said.
The DEA said the two agents involved are okay and the suspect was taken to the hospital. The agency has not said whether agents shot him or how he was shot.
Tom Ko said he was working at his jewelry store when it all happened at around 1:35 p.m.
"I hear a couple pops. I look over my shoulder and I just see a bunch of cop cars, a crashed sedan into one of the telephone poles," Ko said.
Ko and other people in the area said they're surprised to hear of a shooting in Fort Lee. He said it's the first time he can recall of any crime happening near his store.
"When it happened, my first instinct was to duck and just grab my own firearm, because I didn't know what was going on. But the police had everything under control," Ko said.
"We never hear gunshots here. It was very alarming," Aragonez added.
The DEA said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office is now handling the investigation.
