Lakewood machete attack injures 3 juveniles

LAKEWOOD - Three teens were attacked with what authorities believe was a machete on Saturday night, leaving one of the boys with a substantial loss of blood, police said.

All of the victims were in stable condition on Monday. The one with the most serious injuries had been flown to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick after the attack, which occurred sometime before 10:50 p.m., said Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith, a spokesman for the Lakewood Police Department.

The incident took place at the intersection of Ocean and New Hampshire avenues. The juveniles told police they were confronted by two assailants “with what is believed to be a machete” just after the victims and their attackers had stepped out of their vehicles at that street corner, Staffordsmith said.

The circumstances that led to the attack are not clear, the captain said.

Police responded to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus on Route 9 in Lakewood after hospital personnel called the police to report that they were treating three stab wound victims there, he said.

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Two of the boys suffered “serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” while the third needed to be airlifted to New Brunswick, he said.

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The Major Crime Unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Lakewood Police detectives are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Police Department 732-363-0200 or the Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Lakewood machete attack leaves 3 juveniles injured; no arrests