Crime & Safety

UPDATE: N.J. Man Dies After He's Shot In Head At Kid's Birthday Party, Cops Say

​A man was shot in the head Saturday at a child's birthday party in N.J. after a man fired a handgun "randomly," witnesses said.

A man died after he was shot in the head Saturday at a child's birthday party in New Jersey in what was described as a random incident, police said.

Nolman Vidal Rodriguez, 24, of Trenton was pronounced legally brain-dead at Capital Health Regional Medical Center days after he was shot in the head at a young girl’s birthday party, according to The Trentonian.

The man was shot once in the head at the party in Trenton, and The Breaking News Network initially reported the man was hospitalized and being treated.

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The incident happened when 30 people were attending an 8-year-old’s birthday party, Trenton police Capt. Don Fillinger told The Trentonian, and video captured the suspect walking down Greenwood Avenue and "firing a handgun randomly into the party.”

Witnesses say dozens of people, including at least 10 children, were outside attending the girl’s birthday party when the unknown man approached the apartment building on foot and started firing gunshots, according the reports.

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The 24-year-old victim was talking to someone else at the time of the shooting at the building, where seven young kids live, and most of them were outside at the time of the incident, the report said.

Friends paid tribute to the victim on Facebook:

Anyone with information about Saturday’s shooting is asked to contact the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at 609-989-6406 or call the Trenton Police confidential tip line at 609-989-3663.

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