The Essex County Prosecutor's Office will handle the investigation into a shooting that killed a woman in a Newark West Ward neighborhood.
According to a preliminary investigation, at approximately 10:25 p.m., offcials at University Hospital notified Newark Police when a severely injured female was dropped off at the emergency department by an unidentified person in a private vehicle.
Doctors immediately began surgery on the woman who they say suffered injury from bullet wounds.
When police arrived at the hospital, they learned that the woman was shot while in the Bradley Court Housing development’s courtyard located in the 90's block of Munn Avenue before arriving at the hospital.
Essex County authorities said sometime before 1:30 a.m., the victim - around the age of 20-years-old - was pronounced dead by medical professionals.
Around the time of the vitcim's passing, Rutgers Police requested additional police assistance from Newark Police after a large amount of her family and friends began to form at University Hospital around 1:35 a.m.
Police say the vehicle that transported the woman to the hospital was towed and now is apart of the investigation.
The motive behind the shooting has not been determined.