Restaurant Shooting Leaves One Dead, a New Downtown Hotel and Booker Fires up DNC

Jamil Bader,  an 18-year-old husband and father, was shot and killed during a robbery of the Clinton Avenue bodega where he worked. The robbery occurred shortly before 10 pm. Also this month, another youth, 17-year-old Juan Cabrera, was shot and killed on Garside Street.

One man was killed and two others -- including an 81-year-old woman -- were wounded when a gunman opened fire in a restaurant where diners were eating breakfast. Police charged Mark Melvin, 32, with murder within hours of the shooting.

On Sept. 14, a truck and a minivan collided at Springfield Avenue, killing at least one person. Witnesses said one of the vehicles, the truck, was being driven erratically and at a high rate of speed moments before the crash.

Also on the 14th -- and a mere half-block away from the accident above -- hoops legend and native Newarker Shaquille O’Neal cut the ribbon on CityPlex 12, a 12-screen movie theater he co-owns. The venue, formerly known as Newark Screens 6, boasts four 3-D screens and a premier screen, Shaq DX, named in honor of the theater’s famous proprietor.

The Courtyard by Marriott Newark Downtown became the first new hotel to open in the commercial heart of the city in decades. The 150-room, 14,000-square foot mixed use hotel is located on Broad and Lafsyette streets.

City and Essex County officials renamed Broadway “Avenida Puerto Rico” in honor of the cultural impact the island’s natives have had in Newark. The ceremonial renaming was held a few days before the state’s 51st annual Puerto Rican Day parade, which marched down Broad Street.

A city man was killed after crashing the motorcycle he was riding into an ice cream truck. The motorcycle had been reported carjacked several weeks earlier.

An off-duty Newark police officer shot a man who allegedly tried to rob a restaurant at gunpoint. Newark police officials said that the shooting appeared to be justified , although the matter remained under investigation.

Hundreds of residents, including several activists, held a rally at Broad and Market streets, effectively closing down the heart of the city to vehicular traffic for more than four hours. The purpose of the rally was to draw attention to the criminal violence that continues to claim dozens of residents annually.

Mayor Cory Booker during which the surrogate for President Obama charged Republicans with fighting for irresponsible tax cuts designed only to benefit the nation’s wealthiest citizens.

Police arrested a suspect in a string of “brazen” robberies in the James Street area, one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods.

An arrest warrant was issued for the pastor of a Camden Street church after he failed to appear in court on fraud charges.