Police Arrest Nicholas Welch in Shooting Death of Seton Hall Honor Student Jessica Moore, 2nd Suspect Marcus Bascus Still At Large

Seton Hall University honor student, Jessica Moore, met an untimely death at a house party last weekend. The suspected gunman, Nicholas Welch, has been apprehended and police are searching for a second suspect, identified as Marcus Bascus. Welch, 25, of East Orange, was taken into custody Monday night at his home, just a few doors down from the site of the heinous act, that left Moore, 19, dead.

Welch is being held in the Essex County Correctional Facility in lieu of $2 million bail, said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino, according to the Star-Ledger. It's no surprise to learn that he has multiple prior arrests for drug possession, according to records. Police said Bascus will be charged with murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses when he is arrested.

Four other people were shot in the incident, but the injuries were not life-threatening. The names of the wounded are Nicosia Henry, 18, a freshman on the university's women’s basketball team; Yvan Christophe, 25, a graduate of New Jersey Institute of Technology; Daryl Elmore, 2, and Xavier Lee, a NJIT senior from Cliffside Park. This is such a senseless act of gun violence. According to the Star-Ledger, police said the gunman was barred from entering the crowded party in a rented student apartment in East Orange late Friday night. He then reportedly got into a brief physical altercation with some of the hosts at the door as they threw him out, according to several witnesses. True to form, he later returned and opened fire. Why? Why? Why?