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NJ Family Grieving After Deadly Shooting Near Atlantic City Casino

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (CBS 2) -- The hunt for three men continues Monday night after a couple was ambushed, carjacked and shot near the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City.

A grieving family is now left wondering what prompted the senseless act and investigators are hoping new surveillance video will help crack the case.

For the siblings of 28-year-old Sunil Rattu, who was killed Sunday, the grief is almost unbearable. Rattu, of Old Bridge, was just finishing nursing school. He was the sixth of seven children.

"I don't know why they killed him. They took everything, they could have just left him -- at least make him wounded or whatever. Shot him in the arm or leg -- don't kill him," the victim's sister, Neelam Chand, tearfully told CBS 2's John Slattery.

Shot and injured was Rattu's girlfriend, 24-year-old Radha Ghetia, of Sayreville. She was also a nursing student and currently recovering at the hospital after being shot through the upper part of her body.

"She's a very kind person. She mixed well with the family and everything," said Abhi Kumar, Ghetia's nephew.

The deadly encounter began Sunday morning.  Investigators believe the couple was approached by three men as they were getting into Ghetia's SUV in the parking garage of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino. Family members said as they were getting into her Ranger Rover, the three men, at first, just robbed them, Slattery reported.

Police said the couple was forced to drive into an alley, where they were shot, CBS 2's Sean Hennessey reported.

"They said we not going to kill you and they get out and they shoot him in the head?" Chand said.

Rattu's family says he went to Atlantic City to relax and have a little fun before he would have to start studying for a nursing exam, scheduled at the end of the month.

"He had his future, he had his dreams -- how he wanted to get married," the victim's brother, Anil Rattu said.

"We identified a vehicle of interest -- a 2003, gray Saturn -- we believe model Ion," Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said.

Surveillance photos of the three possible suspects were taken in a stairway of the casino. Family members are left wondering why Rattu was killed.

Casino Shooting Surveillance
Officials say casino surveillance cameras captured images of the suspects. (credit surveillance video)

"They get everything. You know, they demand money...whatever they want, they gave him. So what's the motive of killing?" the victim's brother-in-law asked.

"They took their money, they took their cell phones, took the credit cards. Why they have to shoot them?" asked Kumar.

For the family of the man who was killed, there is pure grief and a hope that someone who recognizes the trio on the surveillance video now being sought will come forward.

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