PATERSON — The investigation into the Jan. 13 baseball bat attack on former Councilman William McKoy has stretched into its second month without anyone being arrested.

“Our detectives are fully engaged investigating leads,” Paterson Police Chief Engelbert Ribeiro said, noting that the case is a high priority.

The assault on McKoy by two men who reportedly were waiting outside his home on a Friday morning happened several weeks before two other New Jersey towns were rocked by fatal shootings of members of their municipal councils.

Officials have said the killing of Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour on Feb. 1 and Milford Councilman Russell Heller on Feb. 8 were unrelated to their roles in local government. But Paterson police said they have not yet determined what prompted the McKoy attack.

McKoy had been a Paterson councilman for 20 years until he lost his seat in the 2020 election.

The McKoy investigation is continuing at the same time as Paterson police have stepped up security for Mayor Andre Sayegh. The mayor was the target of a threatening phone call last Friday, high-ranking city officials said. The city has not revealed details of the threat, including whether the caller gave a particular reason for it.

Sayegh did not respond to multiple messages seeking his comment about the threat.

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Councilman Michael Jackson said City Hall was “locked down” immediately after the threat. But Councilman Luis Velez said security guards simply conducted extra screening when people wanted to enter City Hall.

“It’s supposed to be like that with a threat or no threat,” Velez said, adding that the city should be taking extra precautions in the aftermath of the shootings elsewhere. “We’ve gotten a little too light.”

Meanwhile, McKoy has not made any public comments about the assault on him, which officials said resulted in minor injuries.

On the day of the attack, law enforcement sources said detectives were reviewing footage from home security cameras in McKoy’s neighborhood to try to identify the vehicle used by the two men. Authorities have not made public a description of the vehicle. It’s not clear if any of the videos recorded the license plate number.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ bat attack William McKoy no arrests