Rutgers Student Shot In Her Own Apartment Still In Hospital

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The fourth suspect wanted in the April 5 shooting of two Rutgers college students on Easton Avenue has now been located, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone announced Friday.

Also, one of the Rutgers students who was shot, a 21-year-old woman, still remains at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as of Friday, April 12.

She was shot while inside her own apartment that night: She suffered a single gunshot wound to her stomach, and underwent multiple surgeries for internal organ damage and possible lower-body paralysis.

Police say the two Rutgers students, the young woman and a young man, were accidental targets of the bullet spray when Christian Farmer, 22, of New Brunswick, fired a gun multiple times in the direction of the Golden Rail Pub at 2 a.m. last Friday.

It was a drive-by shooting: Farmer fired the gun from a car and then drove off. This was after an argument Farmer had with other men. Farmer and his accomplices are suspected members of the "brims," a subset of the Bloods criminal street gang, police said.

About a dozen people were standing outside the Golden Rail when Farmer fired his gun, said police.

The young woman was shot while she was inside the second-floor apartment she rents above the bar. The male Rutgers student was hit by projectile while he was standing outside the bar. The Golden Rail, at 66 Easton Avenue, plus 68 Easton Avenue and 135 Somerset Street were all found with bullet holes in them.

The fourth suspect, Sayyid Acosta, 21, of Plainfield, turned himself in April 10 to the New Brunswick Police Department. He was charged with third-degree Armed Riot. Also arrested:

• Farmer, 22, of New Brunswick, the alleged shooter. He was charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault and illegal gun charges.
• Walter Rodriguez-Cardenas, 20, was arrested without incident in Plainfield, where he lives. Police say he drove the getaway car. He was charged with third-degree armed riot and third-degree hindering the apprehension of another.
• Ryan Nasi, 22, of Hillsborough, charged with third-degree armed riot.

Farmer, Cardenas, Nasi and Acosta are all scheduled for a detention hearing on April 16.

Earlier this week: Rutgers Student Shot In Stomach In Gang-Related Attack: Police