Police have arrested a suspect in connection with Saturday morning's shooting at an off-campus frat party near Seton Hall University, and now they're searching for the person who supplied him with the gun. Nicholas Welch, 25, was arrested at his home last night, just doors away from the scene of the party. He was charged with murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses.
The second man, 19-year-old Marcus Bascus, will face the same charges when he is arrested for supplying Welch with the 357- or .38-caliber gun he used to open fire at the party, killing one and injuring four others. Police put the block on lockdown and interviewed witnesses, including one man who said he saw a man with a beard get turned away at the door, walk to a man standing on the curb and say "Give me the burner." He said of the arrest, "It's a relief. It was scary to think that he (the suspected gunman) was so close by still."
According to police records, Welch has multiple prior arrests for drug possession, and he is being held in lieu of $2 million bail. East Orange Police Director Jose Cordero described him as a "coward with a gun."
