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Eunice Dwumfour: New Jersey councilwoman fatally shot in car

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Police tow the vehicle Eunice Dwumfour was found dead in on WednesdayImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Police tow the vehicle Eunice Dwumfour was found dead in on Wednesday

The shooting of a Republican councilwoman in her car in the US state of New Jersey has stunned her constituents.

Eunice Dwumfour, 30, a member of the Sayreville borough council, was found dead inside her vehicle on Wednesday night with multiple gunshot wounds.

Officials are yet to capture her killer and say they have not found a motive for the attack on the single mother.

New Jersey's governor said it did not appear to be politically motivated.

"Unfortunately, there's very little that is known right now," Governor Phil Murphy told the WNYC radio station, pledging to "do anything we can to track down this murderer".

Mr Murphy said the attack felt "very specific", echoing the arguments of police, who have said it appears that the gunman targeted Ms Dwumfour.

Local media reports the victim was near her home in Sayreville, central New Jersey, at the time of the shooting.

Her white Nissan SUV is believed to have travelled about 100ft (30m) before crashing into two parked cars.

According to investigators, the assailant fired as many as 14 shots in her direction and escaped into the woods.

Neighbours have said they saw a person in a hooded sweatshirt speaking with Ms Dwumfour before the shooting, and later running between two buildings and jumping a fence to escape the scene.

Ms Dwumfour was elected to her seat on the six-member borough council in November 2021 by scoring a shock victory over an incumbent Democrat.

The FBI said it was aware of the investigation and ready to help should local authorities require.

Investigators are poring over every aspect of the late councilwoman's life for clues.

She was a single mother to her 12-year-old daughter, though she had recently married a pastor who lives in Nigeria.

"She was living the life, the American dream," her former campaign manager, Karen Bailey Bebert, told the WABC news channel. "She was a beautiful, motivated person, who did very well in the community."