A 30-year-old lawyer leaving an upscale New Jersey mall after shopping with his wife 10 days before Christmas was shot and killed in a carjacking Sunday, prosecutors say.
Dustin Friedland and his wife had just left the Mall at Short Hills around 9 p.m. when he was shot at least once in the head while trying to get into his silver 2012 Range Rover, which was parked on the third level of the deck near Nordstrom.
Police say two men approached him and opened fire as he was getting into the driver's side after opening the passenger side door for his wife. They then jumped into the car and sped off, possibly down Route 24.
Friedland was pronounced dead at the hospital. His wife was not hurt.
The stolen Range Rover was recovered Monday morning, abandoned in Newark about 15 miles away from the mall, but police are still looking for the suspects.
Mall officials said they were working with local police in the investigation.
Friedland, a patent attorney who graduated from Syracuse Law School, grew up in Toms River, according to friends. He graduated in 2002 from Toms River North High School, where he was an accomplished swimmer, rower and Eagle Scout.
His former co-workers at Lerner David in Westfield said he was universally liked, calling him "the most charming, delightful guy."
"The staff loves him. They were in tears and some of them still are," said law partner Bruce Sales. "It's disbelief."
Friedland's former neighbors in Hoboken, where he'd lived with his younger brother before marrying his wife, Jamie, recalled the "wonderful young man who had his whole life ahead of him," according to Joe Auriemma.
"It can happen to anyone and that is the worst part of it all," said former neighbor Ryan Florez.
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Friedland met his wife at Syracuse Law School and they married two years ago.
Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the prosecutor's office at (877) 847-7432.
Brian Thompson and Jen Maxfield contributed to this report.