The residents of 24 Reed St. -- the site of yesterday's bloodbath where five cops were shot in Jersey City -- were allowed to return to their homes more than 36 hours after being evacuated.
About 20 residents from the 40-unit building spent time yesterday at an emergency shelter at nearby School 17 and 13 residents spent the night there, said Art Samaras, director of recovery for the American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey, which ran the shelter.
Residents were jubilant as they walked back inside after a showerless day and a half, during which tenants had no access to anything but the pajamas on their backs when they were evacuated from the building at 5:20 a.m. yesterday, said resident Ellwood Bramhan, 57, who lives on the first floor.
Bramhan who has asthma and emphysema, said he wasn't allowed able to get his oxygen tank, and went without it for several hours until the Red Cross supplied him -- sporadically -- with one.
"I don't understand it because I live on the first floor and the incident was on the third floor. I even gave them (the police) a key to my apartment and asked someone to get my tank but they said no. All they had to do was go in there," he said.
Bramhan said he and his neighbors haven't been able to access prescription medicine either.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said he probably would have allowed a police officer to retrieve the oxygen tank and readily available medications for residents, but he would not have let the tenants go in themselves.
"I've looked at the crime scene photos, this is one of the most bloody scenes that I have seen in all my years in law enforcement," he said.
Jersey City Deputy Chief Peter Nalbach said police offered to take tenants that needed medication to the hospital emergency room.
As for keeping the tenants out of the building for so long, both Nalbach and DeFazio said it was necessary to investigate exactly what happened during the shootout.
"It's a crime scene," Nalbach said. "Nobody goes in the building but the technicians. There was multiple rounds to collect. There was blood evidence to collect. There was clothing to collect. We were looking for other weapons.
DeFazio said even though it appears that the officers' use of force was justifiable, the death of the two suspects is still considered a homicide.
"That's why this is being taken very, very seriously and a very thorough and deliberate investigation is taking place," he said.
The investigation concluded this morning and then cleanup crews were called in. A handful of people in white-plastic coveralls and face masks were seen cleaning blood outside the building at about 1 p.m.
DeFazio said it was a public health danger to let tenants back into the building before the blood was cleaned up because they could catch hepatitis or other diseases.
Bramhan said residents were cheering and shouting as they came back in.
"It feels good to be back home, it's just that we can't lock our doors," Bramhan said, explaining that police had damaged many doors in the building during yesterday's shootout.
Greg Kierce, director of emergency management and homeland security for Jersey City, said he hoped to fix all the damage by noon tomorrow and and would post a police officer outside the building 24-hours-a-day until the locks were repaired.
Last night Jersey City's Division of Animal Control rescued a dog from the building and looked for two cats, which could not be found, said Kierce.
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