Update at 4:32 PM: Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens confirmed the incident, saying that Anthony Ambrose “was injured when a firearm accidentally discharged. Ambrose was treated and released at a local hospital for a non-life-threatening wound. The incident occurred in a private office complex. The incident is currently being investigated by the Cedar Grove Police Department.” The prosecutor’s office confirmed that Mitchell McGuire was present and reported the incident to local police.”
Former Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose shot himself in the foot on Friday after his gun discharged under circumstances that are still under investigation, the New Jersey Globe has learned.
The chief of detectives for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Mitchell McGuire, was at Ambrose’s office in Cedar Grove when a gun accidentally discharged, and Ambrose was shot. The two are reportedly close personal friends.
“We are looking into the incident and hope to have a statement by the close of business today,” Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly told the New Jersey Globe.
A former U.S. Marine and Essex County sheriff’s officer, McGuire has been the chief of detectives in the prosecutor’s office since 2018. He had been the commanding officer of the crime scene unit and the special prosecutions unit.
Ambrose had previously held McGuire’s job.
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story misstated that McGuire was shot.