An Indian student has been charged with murder after shooting dead his grandparents and uncle in their New Jersey residence.
Om Brahmbhatt, 23, is facing three counts of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings at a condo in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Police were called to a South Plainfield home at about 9 am Monday after a report of gunfire, South Plainfield Police Department said.
Dilipkumar Brahmbhatt, 72, and Bindu Brahmbhatt, 72, were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Yashkumar Brahmbhatt, 38, was taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead there.
Authorities didn’t immediately specify the relationship between the suspect and the victims or any alleged motive for the shooting. However the deceased were later identified as the maternal grandparents and uncle of the accused.
Om Brahmbhatt, who resided with the victims and was at the residence when authorities arrived, was later charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, authorities said. But the motive remains unknown.
People close to the Brahmbhatt family in Gujarat’s Anand District told The Times of India that Om had relocated to the US just about 18 months ago. They said that it was on the insistence of his maternal grandfather that Om moved to the US for further studies.
Om was taken to the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center pending a pre-trial detention hearing. But it wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney and a listed number for him couldn’t be found.
(With agency inputs)
