PATERSON — A teenage passenger on a motorcycle was shot in the back as the driver rode down a northern New Jersey roadway, authorities said.
It's not yet clear what sparked the shooting that occurred shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday in Paterson.
The 16-year-old male passenger, a Paterson resident whose name was not disclosed, remained hospitalized today in critical but stable condition.
The driver and passenger both heard a "popping sound" as they rode in the area of North 3rd and Jefferson streets in the city's First Ward, and the passenger soon realized what had happened, authorities said.
The youth alerted the driver, who pulled the motorcycle over to the curb and flagged down a police car in the 100 block of Jefferson Street to report the shooting.
The driver was not injured.
