A Newark high-school senior was trying to shield his girlfriend from gunfire when he was shot and killed in the entryway of his apartment building early Sunday, according to his sister. 

Gary Anderson's 27-year-old sister told the Star-Ledger that the 18-year-old was walking into the public housing building on Frelinghuysen Avenue when at least one gunman opened fire. Police later took the man to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Anderson's sister told the paper that her brother was trying to protect his girlfriend when shots were fired.

Essex County chief assistant prosecutor Thomas Fennelly wouldn't confirm who Anderson had tried to save, but said there were "indications that he may have pushed another person out of the way."

Fennelly wouldn't comment on a motive for the crime.