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Police responded to a report of shots fired in the 300 block of South 9th Street around 11 p.m. Saturday. A man, later identified as 39-year-old Rahman K. Branch, was found at the location suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to University Hospital in Newark where he was pronounced dead about a half-hour later.
Less than three hours later, around 2:30 a.m., police responded to another report of shots fired, this time in the 400 block of 7th Avenue. Arriving officers discovered 32-year-old Nathaniel Mickens unresponsive in a vehicle near the intersection with North 12th Street. Mickens, who had also been shot, was pronounced dead at the scene, Fennelly said.
The shootings do not appear to be related, the prosecutor's office also said.
The shootings are under investigation by the prosecutor's Homicide Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department.
Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call the prosecutor's tips line at 877-847-7432.
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