Garfield, NJ – Two men are now behind bars in connection with a broad-daylight shooting in Garfield after one of the suspects turned up at a hospital seeking treatment for a gunshot wound, prosecutors said.
The shooting unfolded on the morning of September 2 at Palisade Avenue and Somerset Street, where investigators determined seven rounds were exchanged between two men before they fled the scene. No victim was located at the time, but detectives later identified the shooters as Mikhi Maddox Odum, 20, of Garfield, and Jonathan M. Ortiz, also of Garfield.
Ortiz remained on the run until Sunday afternoon, when he walked into Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck around 2:30 p.m. with a gunshot wound to his arm. Hospital staff alerted police, who contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Garfield Police Department. Investigators linked Ortiz’s injury to the Garfield shootout. He was treated and then taken into custody, later remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending a court appearance.
Meanwhile, prosecutors filed an additional charge of first-degree attempted murder against Odum on Monday, citing Ortiz’s injury. Odum, already in custody on earlier weapons charges, was served with the new charge at the Bergen County Jail, where he remains pending a detention hearing.
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella emphasized that both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. He credited multiple agencies, including Garfield Police, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, the Bergen County Regional SWAT Team, Port Authority Police, and Teaneck Police, for assisting in the investigation and apprehensions.
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Key Points
- Two Garfield men exchanged seven gunshots in a September 2 street shooting before fleeing the scene.
- Fugitive suspect Jonathan Ortiz was arrested after seeking hospital treatment for a gunshot wound linked to the incident.
- Co-defendant Mikhi Maddox Odum was hit with an additional attempted murder charge following Ortiz’s injury.