A 23-year-old Indian student has been arrested and charged with murdering his grandparents and uncle in a New Jersey condominium, police and US media reported.
Om Brahbhat shot Dilipkumar Brahbhat, 72, Bindu Brahbhat, 72, and Yashkumar Brahbhat, 38, the South Plainfield Police Department and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Around 9 a.m. Monday, a neighbor of a home on Coppola Drive at New Durham Road in South Plainfield reported hearing gunshots, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release.
Upon arrival, officers found three people – two men and one woman – with gunshot wounds.
Dilipkumar and Bindu Brabhat, a married couple, were found shot dead in their second-floor apartment, police said. Their son Yashkumar Brahmbhat reportedly suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital where he died.
A suspect was located at the scene, taken into custody for questioning and charged. Ohm is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a firearm. Om, who hails from Gujarat, lived with the victims and was found inside the residence when authorities reached the spot.
Ohm had moved to New Jersey in the past two months, sources said, and was living in the condo, NBC New York reported.
He was taken to the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center pending a pretrial detention hearing. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney and a number listed for him could not be found.
According to the complaint, the handgun used in the crime was bought online by Om. Ohm appeared calm during Tuesday’s court appearance. Police said he was the one who called 911 that morning, and when asked who did it, Ohm said, “It could have been me.”
It was unclear what led to the shooting. A neighbor told NBC New York that it wasn’t the first time police had been called to the condo.
“I didn’t really know them until the police came to a domestic disturbance call,” said Jim Short, a neighbor who lives upstairs from the apartment where the three men were found dead. “It can happen anywhere, but it’s a shame, it’s just down there.”
The heritage apartment complex, home to several young families who immigrated from India, has dozens of security cameras that neighbors thought might help police.
“There’s all the cameras and there’s cameras going in and out of the complex and every building has cameras outside and in the breezeway. So we’re hopeful,” said another neighbor, Victor Orozco.
An investigation by the South Plainfield Police Department is ongoing. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call city police or the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
An investigation by South Plainfield Detective Thomas Rutter and Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Javier Morillo determined there was no threat to the public and that this was not a random act of violence, according to the prosecutor’s office.
