NEWARK, N.J.
In a city where gun violence has become an all too common part of daily life, these shootings were enough to chill even the most hardened residents: Four young friends shot execution-style in a schoolyard just days before they were to head to college.
Three were killed after being forced to kneel against a wall and then shot in the head at close range Saturday night, police said. A girl was found slumped near some bleachers 30 feet away, a gunshot wound to the head but still alive.
The four Newark residents were to attend Delaware State University this fall. No arrests had been made by Monday and authorities had not identified suspects.
At Delaware State, officials said the school plans to hold a memorial service Aug. 28, after the student body returns for the fall semester.
“While the murder of the two students is a terribly loss in human terms, the facts that they were a part of the DSU family and were striving to earn a degree, create a bright future for themselves and become solid contributors to society, makes this violent act especially tragic and senseless,” university President Allen Sessoms said in a statement.
The shootings ratcheted up anger in New Jersey’s largest city, where the murder rate has risen 50 percent since 1998. The high number of killings have prompted billboards in the downtown area that scream, “HELP WANTED: Stop the Killings in Newark Now!”
