NEWS

Reward offered in girl's shooting

Jim Walsh
@jimwalsh_cp

CAMDEN - An 8-year-old girl was shot in the head as she played on a city sidewalk Wednesday night, authorities said.

The child was hit by a stray bullet around 8:30 p.m. when several "armed suspects" opened fire near South 8th and Spruce streets, Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said. The girl, whose name was not released, was hospitalized in critical condition Thursday morning.

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Authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the shooting in the 900 block of South 8th Street, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said Monday morning.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Prosecutor's Det. Sherman Hopkins at (856) 225-8623 or Camden County Police Department Det. Michael Ross at (856) 757-7420.

The child was with several people outside a home in her Bergen Square neighborhood when gunmen shot "at an intended target which was not the little girl," Thomson said. "She happened to be in the vicinity."



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A resident without ID seeks to pass a police line at 7th and Spruce streets, near Wednesday night's shooting scene.

He said multiple shots were fired, but it was believed only one round hit the child. He described the people with the girl only as "individuals."

The armed suspects remained at large Thursday. Thomson noted police believe some gunmen were seen on video surveillance as they fled the area.

"This is an all-hands-on-deck, line-in-the-sand moment," said the chief, who reported no other injuries from the gunfire.

"The individuals who are responsible for this are going to feel the full weight of law enforcement," Thomson said. "They're nothing short of cowards. I'm quite certain that the community has pretty much the same sentiments as we do."

A short distance from the crime scene, 23-year-old Tirrell Carter expressed concern for the child's family and contempt for the shooters.

"She was thinking about taking a field trip maybe or going to the movies with her friends, and then this, Think about her mother," Carter said.

"They need to get the guns out of these guys' hands," he added.

Police lights illuminate a Bergen Square street after the shooting of an 8-year-old girl Wednesday night.

Officers sealed off a large area around the crime scene, blocking multiple intersections with police tape and patrol cars. Some people without proof of residence were not allowed to enter the area while police work continued.

The girl was at least the third city juvenile to be a shooting victim this year.

Camden's first homicide victim in 2016, 13-year-old Nathaniel Plummer, was fatally shot Jan. 7 on the 2900 block of Line Street in East Camden. A 15-year-old, Antiquons Beatty, was fatally shot July 2 on the 1200 block of Mechanic Street.

Jim Walsh; (856) 486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com

Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson discusses the shooting of an 8-year-old city girl on Wednesday night.