Police: Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Shooting Inside Middlesex County Barber Shop

New Brunswick police arrested a city man, who they said shot a 40-year-old Piscataway resident in the leg inside a New Street barber shop this morning.

Police said they recovered a gun from the defendant’s car, and found cocaine and a large amount of cash on him when they took him into custody.

Around 6:25 a.m. today, police were sent to the corner of Bayard and French streets, after getting a report about a fight there.

But when they arrived, witnesses identified Cruz Bruno-Ruiz, 29, of New Brunswick, as a suspect in a shooting that had just occurred inside a barber shop at 210 New Street, according to a news release from Capt. JT Miller.

Police quickly arrested Bruno-Ruiz, and they recovered a handgun from the front seat of his car, which was parked on Bayard Street, the news release said.

Police said they also found cocaine and a large amount of cash on the defendant. As they were taking him into custody, a 40-year-old Piscataway man, Gerardo Moreno, walked into Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his leg, police said.

Detectives recovered video surveillance from the barber shop that shows the victim, the defendant and other people drinking together, just before the shooting occurred, the news release said.

Bruno-Ruiz was charged with attempted murder, unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in a school zone.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Detective Drew Weiss at (732) 745-5217.