Camden Sets 3rd-Worst Homicide Mark

Camden saw its third-worst homicide total in history in 2013, following multiple shootings in the city on New Year's Eve.

Two people were killed in a midday shooting off Pine Street in the city's Bergen Square neighborhood Tuesday, and initial emergency radio reports indicated a third person may have been shot in the incident.

The two deaths brought 2013's total to 57 killings in the city, 10 fewer than last year's record total, but only one shy of the second-highest mark, set in 1995.

Another shooting took place around 6 p.m. in the city's Stockton neighborhood, about a block from Woodrow Wilson High School; police radio reports indicated the victim in that shooting had been shot in the stomach and was still alive.

Neither police nor the Camden County Prosecutor's Office had released any information about either shooting, nor were the names of any of the victims disclosed.

A police source told the Courier-Post the midday shooting was drug-related.

It's the third straight year Camden has topped 50 homicides; since 2011, 176 people have died on the city's streets.