Third Arrest Made After Mass Shooting At NJ House Party

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP, NJ — A third person has been arrested in connection with a New Jersey mass shooting that left three people dead and injured 11 others last month, authorities announced.

Larry McRae, 39 of Bridgeton has been charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday.

McRae has not been charged as a suspect in the shooting, according to the prosecutor's office. He was arrested after investigators recovered two guns during their ongoing investigation into the shooting.

No one has been charged with being the actual shooter in the incident, which police have said was a targeted shooting at a birthday party attended by hundreds of people of all ages. No target or motive has yet been revealed. Read more here: Deadly NJ Mass Shooting Update: Arrest Made, Victims ID'd

McCrae has been lodged in Cumberland County Jail, and the state will move for a pretrial detention hearing, the prosecutor said.

On Thursday, party host Darrell Dawkins, 39 of Bridgeton, was ordered to remain in jail pending trial, nj.com reports. He has been charged with unlawful possession of a handgun after police found a purple and silver 9mm Taurus handgun in the trunk of one of the cars during the execution of a search warrant at his home. Read more here: NJ Mass Shooting Updated: 3rd Person Dies, Another Arrest Made

Kevin Dawkins, 36 of Bridgeton remains in jail pending a detention hearing scheduled for next week. He has been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and other charges.

He was arrested a few hours after the Cumberland County shooting when police responded to reports of a man with a weapon behind an apartment complex near the shooting scene. Dawkins was found lying near a tree in the wooded section behind the Maple Garden Apartment Complex in Cumberland County with a gun clutched in his right hand, according to the criminal complaint filed against him. Read more here: ‘Gun Clutched In His Hand’: NJ Mass Shooting Details Released

His criminal history includes his status as a Tier 2 sex offender. He was convicted in 2004 of the aggravated sexual assault of a juvenile girl, according to state records.

The shooting prompted Gov. Phil Murphy to say: "We hold those who have died, and their families, in our prayers today, and we also pray for the recoveries of those injured."

The three people killed in the shootings have been identified as Kevin Elliott, 30, and Asia Hester, 25, both of Bridgeton; and Braylin Holmes, 19, of Millville.

Hester had moved from Kingston, Jamaica, to pursue a career in nursing. She graduated from Rowan College of South Jersey's Cumberland County campus, and worked as a Patient Care Tech at Jefferson Health's Washington Township campus. Read more here: Grief For NJ Mass Shooting Victim Who Came To America For Nursing

Before the shooting took place, there was another party in the area that had been broken up over noise complaints. Police believe some of the people from that party ended up at the party in which the shooting took place, but it is not clear if Dawkins was one of those people.

Anyone with information is asked to call the New Jersey State Police Bridgeton Station at 856-451-0101 or submit a tip via the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office tip website at www.njccpo.org/tips. Anonymous tips are welcome.