STEPH SOLIS @STEPHMSOLISANDREW FORD @ANDREWFORDNEWSKAREN YI @KAREN_YI

ASBURY PARK - A surveillance video re-portedly shows that a man stopped by a city po-lice officer fired the first shot in a Wednesdaynight gunbattle that left an 8-year-old girlwounded and the suspect in the hospital.

Whose bullet hit the girl is still under investi-gation, acting Monmouth County ProsecutorChristopher J. Gramiccioni said as he stood infront of the girl’s home.

Gramiccioni declined to release the video,saying he wants to take the investigation “stepby step.”

“But it’s not off the table, it’ll remain to beseen,” he said.

He defended the officer’s choice to returnfire shortly after 7 p.m. at the corner of Spring-wood Avenue and Avenue A. The suspect,Dante Allen, 20, of Asbury Park, was shot in theleg by police, authorities said. His injury is notconsidered life-threatening.

‘INNOCENT PEOPLEARE GETTING SHOT’Prosecutor: Video shows suspect fired first,probe continues in incident that left girl hurt

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Investigators search for evidence in a empty lot at the intersection of Atkins and Springwood avenues on Thursday.

Locations on the map are approximate

1 – Asbury Park Patrolman Terrence McGhee conductedan “investigatory stop” on Dante Allen at the intersec-tion of Springwood Avenue and Atkins Avenue. Theofficer felt a gun on Allen. Allen fled west on Spring-wood Avenue. 2 – Allen turned and fired at McGhee. The two werestanding about 15 to 30 feet apart in an empty lot. 3 – McGhee returned fire. 4 – A bullet entered the back wall of a home on BordenAvenue, wounding an 8-year-old girl.

To see video and photos from the scene and

news conference, visit APP.com

See SHOOTING, Page 8A

ASBURY PARK

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been knockedfrom the main stage for next week’s Republican presi-dential primary debate.

Poor showings in national polls have placed Christiein the second-tier of candidates when the Fox BusinessNetwork-sponsored debate takes place Tuesday in Mil-waukee.

The network announced Thursday night that Chris-tie will face off with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, for-mer Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former U.S.Sen. Rick Santorum, all of whom failed to post an aver-age of 2.5 percent in recent national polls.

Christie was on the main stage with the likes of Don-ald Trump and Ben Carson in the first three debates.The drop to the second-tier event is a blow to Christie’sWhite House hopes, with his potential donors expectedto show more caution if his campaign can’t start gainingmomentum.

Christie seemed to accept his fate during an inter-view on “America’s Newsroom” on Fox early Thursday.

“The bottom line is you need to be on a stage and de-

Christieknocked offGOP debatemain stageFox Business Networkevent set for TuesdayBOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

See DEBATE, Page 5A

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has beenknocked from the main stage for next week’sRepublican presidential primary debate. AP PHOTO/MARK J. TERRILL

RED BANK - Are you getting enough sleep? A national expert may be able to answer that ques-

tion for you at a special event hosted by MeridianHealth and the Asbury Park Press on Saturday. In thewake of Daylight Savings, the two organizations willpresent “Power of an Hour” featuring Dr. Carol Ash, di-rector of sleep medicine for Meridian Health.

Ash will lead discussions about how sleep relates todiet, exercise and stress. She says that simple lifestylechanges — such as the foods you eat and daytime activ-ities — can lead to a better night’s sleep.

An estimated 70 million Americans suffer sleep re-lated problems, according to Meridian Health. The av-erage worker is as much as 8 percent less productive onthe job because of bad sleep, according to a 2011 aca-demic analysis by the American Insomnia Survey.

APP, Meridian wantto help you sleepNICQUEL TERRY @NTERRYAPP

See SLEEP, Page 5A

TOMS RIVER – Ocean County College, faced with a7 percent drop in enrollment, has instituted a hiringfreeze to help erase a resulting $3 million budgetshortfall.

In addition, college leaders have renegotiated con-tracts with vendors and dipped into the school’s re-serves to close the budget gap. They also are reachingacross the state and world for new partnerships theyhope will bolster the college’s numbers.

This fall college officials expected about 7,300 full-time students to take courses. In fact, only 6,950 full-time students enrolled, according to Sara Winchester,the college’s vice president of finance.

Total fall enrollment, including part-time students,was 8,663 this year, down 633 students, or about 7 per-cent, from the 2014 fall semester.

Originally, college officials predicted student tu-ition and fees would bring in $35.9 million, but the low-

er enrollment resulted in only $32.8 million in tuitionincome, or $3.1 million less than what was anticipated,according to a memo from Winchester to college Presi-dent Jon H. Larson.

“We were off by about 5 percent,” Winchester saidafter a Monday meeting of the college’s board of trust-ees, where she addressed the issue.

Larson said the drop is part of a national trend. “We’ve been unhappy about these declines, but these

are declines that are being faced by every institution,”he said.

Ocean County College freezes hiringamid $3 million budget shortfallAMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

See COLLEGE, Page 5A

“We’ve been unhappy about these declines, butthese are declines that are being faced by everyinstitution.”

JON H. LARSON, OCC PRESIDENT