Authorities are looking for the individuals who shot two men outside a rental hall where a baby shower had just concluded.
DUNELLEN --Two men are hospitalized and authorities are searching for the individuals who shot them outside of a rental hall where a baby shower had just concluded Sunday evening.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey and Dunellen Police Chief Jeff Nelson said Monday authorities are searching for the individuals who opened fire on two men as they stood outside a rental hall.
Carey said the men, whose names are being withheld, were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where they are being treated for gunshot wounds.
The prosecutor said the men were shot at 6:30 p.m. as they stood outside the rental hall, located at the intersection of North Washington Avenue and Front Street.
The suspects were riding in a white minivan when they approached the victims, and fled after firing an undisclosed number of shots, Carey said.
The rental hall is known as the Arts Annex and a baby shower was finishing up just as the shooting occurred, according to Margaret Lockwood, the Annex's owner.
Lockwood said the hall had been rented by a Plainfield family from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. She did not know if the people who were shot were guests at the baby shower or arrived after the party was finished.
Lockwood was not present at the Annex when the shooting occurred, but she was there when the party was being set up.
"The people who rented it out were lovely," she said. "The party was really well done."
But Lockwood said from now on, she will only rent out the Annex to people that she knows.
"I don't want to risk anything like this happening ever again," Lockwood said.
Monday morning, dry blood stains still dotted the sidewalk near the corner of Front Street where the shooting occurred.
The investigation is active and continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Dunellen police Detective (732) 968-3000 or county Detective David Abromaitis (732) 745-4436.
Staff writer Alex Napoliello contributed to this story.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.