Carjacking Suspect Shot By Police In Bergen County Is Identified By Prosecutors

NORTH ARLINGTON, NJ — An armed man who was shot by police in Bergen County after allegedly carjacking a rideshare vehicle has been identified, prosecutors said.

Emmanuel Etienne, 42, of Bayonne has been charged with first-degree attempted murder and armed carjacking, said the Bergen County prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors said that this past Saturday, just before 4 p.m., the Kearny Police Department responded to a carjacking in the area of Belleville Turnpike in that Hudson County town.

Police determined that a rideshare driver was transporting a passenger along Belleville Turnpike near Kearny Avenue when the passenger — later identified as Etienne — fired a handgun at him.

The bullet struck the interior of the vehicle, missing the driver, prosecutors said.

The driver left his car and Etienne took over, driving away, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement officers spotted Etienne and the vehicle on Porete Avenue, prosecutors said.

"During that encounter, the armed suspect was shot by law enforcement and transported to an area hospital," prosecutors said.

Etienne was treated for a gunshot injury and discharged to police, prosecutors said.

He was charged with first-degree attempted murder, first-degree armed carjacking, and two weapons charges. He was taken to the Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny to await further court action, prosecutors said.

The investigation into the police shooting is continuing, and prosecutors will not release further details at this time, they said.

The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office are investigating.

Reports About Uber

Several news outlets said the victim in the carjacking was driving for Uber.

A report on WPIX-11 quoted the victim's sister as saying that a man with a gun entered his vehicle on Saturday and seemed upset about a personal incident with his girlfriend. According to the story, the man fired a bullet that just missed the Uber driver's head. After the driver fled, the suspect took off with the car, the story says.