Police are looking for the masked gunman who shot five people in Camden, two fatally, Saturday night in what sources said might have stemmed from an earlier dispute at a birthday outing at a bowling alley.
All five victims were seated in a burgundy Chevrolet Lumina parked in an alley behind the 2500 block of Morgan Boulevard in the Morgan Village section of the city about 11:40 p.m. when a masked man walked up to the car, got in the driver's side and fired into it repeatedly, according to a statement from Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk and Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson.
Killed were Jewel Manire, 18, address unknown, and Khalil Gibson, 20, of Camden. A 16-year-old female was critically injured with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.
A 20-year-old female from Camden was shot in the face and another 16-year-old female from Camden was shot in the arm and shoulder. She was able to get out of the vehicle and call 911.
Authorities said they could not confirm if the shooting and the bowling alley incident were connected.
Faulk and Thomson provided the following chain of events:
After the shootings, the gunman pushed Manire out of the driver's seat and drove the car with the four victims still in it to a dirt road off the 2500 block of Morgan Boulevard. There, the 20-year-old victim jumped from the vehicle and ran. The shooter chased her but she was able to escape.
The gunman, described as Hispanic and about 6 feet tall, wore a black mask over the lower part of his face and yellow latex gloves. He was last seen running toward basketball courts on a field near Morgan Boulevard carrying a machete along with a gun.
It is unknown whether he knew the victims.
The victims are being treated at Cooper University Hospital in Camden. The girl shot in the head and the 20-year-old are in critical condition.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Camden County Prosecutor's Office Investigator John Hunsinger at 856-365-3239 or Camden Police Detective Shawn Donlon at 856-757-7420. Information may also be e-mailed to [email protected].
Relatives of the injured who are gathered at Cooper declined comment.
The killings bring the city's homicide total this year to 50, eight short of the record reached in 1995.
Contact Darran Simon at 856-779-3829 or at [email protected], or follow on Twitter @darransimon.
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