On the night of September 13, 2020, Lionel M. McCauley, a 28-year-old Black actor and spoken word artist from the Somerset section of Franklin Township, was attending a house party on Delafield Street in New Brunswick. Just before 1:20 a.m., a vehicle stopped in the street and five people emerged and opened fire on the gathering. Eight people were struck by gunfire; McCauley was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and later died of his wounds. Another victim, 23-year-old Anthony Robinson, was also killed and several people were seriously injured.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Brunswick Police Department investigated. On February 5, 2021, a 19-year-old man from Somerset was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, seven counts of attempted murder, and multiple weapons offenses; authorities allege the suspect and others drove to the party and deliberately fired into the crowd. The motive has not been publicly detailed.