An Indian student from Gujarat has been charged with the killing of his maternal grandparents and an uncle with whom he lived in a condo in South Plainfield, New Jersey.
Om Brahmbhatt, 23, appeared in court Tuesday after being arrested and charged for Monday’s triple murder that claimed the lives of Dilipkumar Brahmbhatt, 72, Bindu Brahmbhatt, 72, and their son Yashkumar Brahmbhatt, 38, WABC reported.
He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
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The police complaint says the suspect confessed to shooting his grandparents while they slept in their bedroom, then went to a back bedroom, where it says he shot his uncle several times. According to the complaint, the crime was committed with a handgun Brahmbhatt says he purchased online.
Brahmbhatt had a seemingly calm demeanor during Tuesday’s court appearance.
Police say he was the one who called 911 that morning and when asked about who did it, officials say Brahmbhatt stated, “It might be me.”
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The family was not well known to most neighbors according to Eyewitness News. They were immediately informed of the incident by police and told there was no dangers to anyone else. What remains unclear is what led up to this family tragedy.
Officers responded to the scene on Coppola Drive at around 9 a.m. Monday. Someone reported shots fired in the area. Once inside the condo, officers found three victims, two men and one woman. They had all been shot.
Dilipkumar Brahmbhatt and his wife Bindu Brahmbhatt were pronounced dead at the scene, but their son Yashkumar was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
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After an investigation led to the questioning of a person of interest, police arrested Om Brahmbhatt, who lived with the victims and was found at the residence when authorities arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, the triple murder has sent shockwaves in Gujarat’s Anand district from where the family hailed, according to a report in the Times of India.
Dilipkumar Brahmbhatt, who had served as a police sub-inspector in Bilimora town in Navsari district, had settled in Anand after retirement. He and his other family members were living in a society on Lambhvel-Bakrol Road and had moved to the US only recently to stay with their son Yash.
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Times cited people close to the Brahmbhatt family in Anand as saying that Om had relocated to the US just about 18 months ago. They said it was on the insistence of grandfather that Om moved to the US for further studies.