Hamilton man charged with two shootings on one day in Trenton
TRENTON>> A Hamilton man was allegedly involved in two separate shootings on the same day last year, prosecutors said.
Tariq Hoffman, 29, was already facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses for allegedly shooting a city man in the back Dec. 20, 2015 on Elm Street.
The convicted felon was charged in a March 29 criminal complaint with aggravated assault and weapons offenses for a second shooting in Trenton that allegedly occurred the same day, Assistant Prosecutor Michael Mennuti said at a bail hearing Wednesday.
Like the shooting on Elm Street, Hoffman was allegedly caught on camera, prosecutors said.
His defense attorney, Malaeika Montgomery, said her client acted in self-defense after he was fired upon by another man. She said her client was one of four co-defendants in the shooting, though no one else was identified in court.
Mennuti read from a probable cause affidavit that was scant on information. It identified Hoffman as a “participant in a shooting,” Mennuti said. The prosecutor added Hoffman was identified by surveillance and witnesses at the scene of the shooting.
Judge Peter Warshaw, noting the suspect’s extensive rap sheet and pending shooting case, set bail at $100,000 cash.
Hoffman, who owns multiple gun and drug convictions, has been arrested more than a dozen times and was out on bail on gun charges when he was arrested and charged with attempted murder for the Dec. 20 shooting.
He allegedly used a 9 mm handgun in the Dec. 20 shooting on Elm Street, prosecutors said. It is unclear if that was the same weapon he allegedly used in the second shooting. Mennuti said he was not sure where the second shooting occurred.
Police responded to a report of shots fired and found five shell casings on Elm Street, but could not locate the victimz. The man had checked himself in at a local hospital. The victim in the attempted murder case couldn’t help police identify the gunman because his back was turned.
Hoffman was also charged separately with weapons offenses after he was found with a stolen .25-caliber handgun, prosecutors said. Hoffman has said he knows nothing about one of the Dec. 20 shootings.