Two recently graduated nursing students were celebrating in Atlantic City when bad luck turned tragic on Sunday.
Sunil Rattu, 28, of Old Bridge, and Radha Ghetia, 24, of Sayreville, were the victims of an apparent carjacking that resulted in Rattu’s death, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office. The couple was leaving the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort around 8 a.m. Sunday morning when three men approached them in the parking garage.
The armed suspects forced Ghetia to drive her Land Rover a few blocks away to an alley while one of them sat on either side of Rattu in the back of the vehicle, according to a Star-Ledger report. The men reportedly robbed the couple of a small amount of cash and told them to exit the car. At that point, a gunman reportedly shot Rattu through a closed window, killing him. Ghetia was also shot, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The three suspects then abandoned the vehicle and ran. Police were called around 8:27 a.m., and officers discovered Ghetia and Rattu in the sport-utility vehicle near the 500 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard, according the prosecutor’s office.
Ghetia was treated at AtlantiCare Regional
Medical Center’s City Campus. The Star-Ledger reported that she later identified three men as the perpetrators from photos captured on a security camera.
The couple had just graduated from Pinelands School of Practical Nursing and Allied Health in June. Admissions Director Diana Nobleza said they were hardworking people, always seen at the school studying. They graduated with practical nursing diplomas, Nobleza said. Rattu planned to become a registered nurse, and the licensing test was fast approaching, she said.
Nobleza said everyone in the school community is shocked by the news. Staff members have been calling the school, openly crying, she said.
“The graduating class is very close, and they keep in touch with Facebook and everything on a regular basis,” she said. “Everyone is so sad about what happened.”
The incident is under investigation. Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 609-909-7899 or the Atlantic City Police Department Detective Bureau at 609- 347-5766.
Contact Deanna McLafferty at [email protected].