The man who authorities believe fatally shot a New Jersey councilwoman outside her home in February was arrested Tuesday in Virginia, some 300 miles away from the crime scene, officials said.

Authorities identified Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, as the suspect in the killing of Eunice Dwumfour, a 30-year-old Republican member of the Sayreville Borough Council who was shot inside her car, Middlesex County prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said Tuesday during a news conference.

Authorities said they used surveillance video, witnesses' statements, and phone records to track down Bynum, who was taken into custody Tuesday morning outside a home in Chesapeake City, Va. He is charged with first degree murder, second degree unlawful possession of a gun and second degree possession of a gun for an unlawful purpose.

"This was a very complex [and] extensive case," Ciccone said. "The murder has shaken the community and no arrest will bring back the late councilwoman."

Dwumfour, a business analyst, IT professional and part-time EMT worker, had served on the borough council since 2022 after she scored an upset victory over her Democratic opponent.

The incident occurred on the evening of Feb. 1, when police in Sayreville, N.J., responded to several 911 calls reporting gunshots outside an apartment complex, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. When officers arrived, they found Dwumfour unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds inside her Nissan SUV outside her townhouse. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. At the time, authorities said they had evidence to believe the attack was planned.

The months-long investigation found Bynum's number saved as a contact in the council woman's phone with the acronym FCF, which authorities believe stood for the Fire Congress Fellowship, a church Dwumfour once belonged to. That church is also associated with the Champions Royal Assembly, which Dwumfour belonged to. Authorities on Tuesday did not share whether the congresswoman knew Bynum at the time of the shooting.

The day of the shooting, Ciccone said, Bynum searched online for information related to the council woman's church. Days before the shooting. Bynum also looked up what magazines were compatible with a specific gun that authorities later recovered in Virginia.

According to Ciccone, surveillance video recovered by authorities captured the suspect fleeing from the scene while a witness shared a description of the gunman that matched Bynum. Another witness told police that a White Hyundai that looked suspicious was parked nearby the shooting scene minutes before the shooting, Ciccone said. Investigators said phone records showed Bynum rented the car from a private individual a day before the shooting.

Investigators also said a phone tied to Bynum traveled from Virginia to New Jersey the night of the shooting and "immediately" returned to the Virginia area following the incident, according to Ciccone. A gun was later recovered at a Smithfield, Va., address Bynum returned to after the shooting, she said.

Dwumfour graduated from William Paterson University with a degree in women's studies and was the director of churches for Champions Royal Assembly, an international ministry, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Bynum is awaiting extradition to New Jersey where he will then be held at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional facility pending a pretrial detention hearing in Superior Court, authorities said.

The Washington Post's Timothy Bella contributed to this report.