East Camden

He had been playing basketball in East Camden and was walking home Monday afternoon when the bullets started flying. Jorge Cartagena, a fourth grader, was struck in the eye, collapsed to the ground, and immediately called out for his mother. "Where is my son? Where is my son?" screamed his mother, Isabel, after learning from a neighbor of the 9-year-old's shooting. She rushed from her home on Marlton Avenue toward the shooting scene. She cradled him in her lap and told him "to be strong.

Greg Rawls was asleep on the floor of a friend's home early Wednesday when a loud banging broke the silence. His girlfriend, who had been lying next to him, opened the door, and members of the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Fugitive Task Force poured in. Roughly 36 hours after authorities say Rawls opened fire on an East Camden corner, missing his target but sending a bullet into 9-year-old Jorge Cartagena's temple - a wound doctors say...

Jeremy Lopez is a little guy with big dreams: He can imagine himself playing shortstop for the New York Mets or pitching for the Boston Red Sox. Lopez also is a young man with an older man's wisdom: He knows that he'll never play in the major leagues and that education is his path to a better future. The Pennsauken Tech senior might not be a great baseball player, but he's a great example to his schoolmates, his teammates, and everybody else in South Jersey sports. He's a 5-foot-1, 110-pounder who breaks up fights.

One person was killed in Camden today in the city's ninth homicide of the year. Shortly after midday, the Breaking News Network reported a shooting on the 1200 block of Chase Street in the Whitman Park section. Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Camden Count Prosecutor's Office, confirmed the slaying, but he didn't immediately have additional information. The killing is the third this week. On Tuesday, two men were slain in unrelated incidents in the Fairview section and in East Camden.

A 52-year-old man was shot and killed while walking from an East Camden 7-Eleven with his wife around 10:15 p.m. Sunday. James Glover, who lived near the Federal Street store, was struck by a bullet that went through his arm and into his chest. He was pronounced dead at Cooper University Hospital. It was the second homicide of the day in the neighborhood. Garland Banks, 25, also of East Camden, was shot multiple times Sunday morning while in the entrance to the Wash Clean Laundromat on 27th Street.

Teenagers from Camden and Pennsauken hit the rails and ramps with their skateboards following the opening Friday of the Stockton Station Park and greenway project, a $10 million recreation area at the Catto Demonstration Project in East Camden. In addition to a fenced-in skateboarding area, the park - on north end of Rosedale Avenue, off Westfield Avenue - got a synthetic-turf multipurpose field, basketball courts, a baseball field, and chess tables. The park was funded through grants from the state Schools Development Authority and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Green Acres program.

Authorities today released surveillance video showing two "persons of interest" in the fatal shooting of a Camden man last month in the city. Anibal Perez, 23, was shot several times on Feb. 26 as he sat in the driver's seat of his Honda Accord at the corner of 27th Street and Arthur Avenue in East Camden. He died at Cooper University Hospital. His family has said Perez was returning home from a nearby liquor store after purchasing a bottle of Remy Martin VSOP, his favorite. The video, recorded moments before his death, shows Perez walking into Vizcaya Liquor Store at 25th and Sherman Streets, about three blocks from where he was shot, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and city police said.

High noon, downtown Camden. The young blond woman staggering along Broadway in ultrashort shorts makes it clear she doesn't want any help. But a block away, Maxine Bennett eagerly waves to the Covenant House van I'm riding in. The privately funded nonprofit agency "really got me what I needed," says Bennett, 22, who on this occasion needs a ride to her Fairview home with daughter, Paris, 1. "Things are getting better," Maxine says as...

On the drive into East Camden after work, Sean Mancini says, he is a popular mark for the neighborhood's drug dealers. But the 20-year-old from Cinnaminson waves them off, instead heading for Stockton Station Park, where crowds of fellow skateboarders gather on summer afternoons to launch themselves off ramps and execute exotically named spins and grabs. Adjacent to what only a decade ago was one of Camden's most violence-plagued housing projects are scenes familiar to skate spots the world over - the hollow rattle of polyurethane on metal and a shirtless skateboarder picking himself up off the concrete.

A 52-year-old man was shot and killed late Sunday while walking home from a convenience store with his wife in East Camden, police said today. James Glover's wife told investigators she heard gunfire and saw a muzzle flash before her husband fell to the ground on Federal Street at 34th Street. Glover was hit in the right arm and chest and died at the scene, officials said. Glover and his wife were walking from a 7-Eleven on the 3600 block of Federal Street to their home on 32nd Street when the gunfire rang out about 10:15 p.m., police said.

Jeremy Lopez is a little guy with big dreams: He can imagine himself playing shortstop for the New York Mets or pitching for the Boston Red Sox. Lopez also is a young man with an older's man wisdom: He knows that he'll never play in the major leagues and that education is his path to a better future. The Pennsauken Tech senior might not be a great baseball player, but he's a great example to his schoolmates, his teammates, and everybody else in South Jersey sports. He's a 5-foot-1, 110-pounder who breaks up fights.

Jeremy Lopez is a little guy with big dreams: He can imagine himself playing shortstop for the New York Mets or pitching for the Boston Red Sox. Lopez also is a young man with an older man's wisdom: He knows that he'll never play in the major leagues and that education is his path to a better future. The Pennsauken Tech senior might not be a great baseball player, but he's a great example to his schoolmates, his teammates, and everybody else in South Jersey sports. He's a 5-foot-1, 110-pounder who breaks up fights.

Camden announced plans Tuesday for its first new full-service supermarket in 30 years: a 75,000-square-foot ShopRite. The supermarket, which Mayor Dana L. Redd described as an oasis, will anchor a planned 150,000-square-foot retail shopping center at the Admiral Wilson Boulevard and 17th Street in East Camden, city officials and developers said. The ShopRite would be only the second such store in the city of 77,000 people. The developer, Goldenberg Group of Blue Bell, is just starting the permitting and land-acquisition process with the city and the Delaware River Port Authority, which owns a portion of the 20 acres the project needs.

Authorities released surveillance video Friday showing two "persons of interest" in the fatal shooting of a Camden man last month in the city. Anibal Perez, 23, was shot several times Feb. 26 as he sat in the driver's seat of his Honda Accord at 27th Street and Arthur Avenue in East Camden. He died at Cooper University Hospital. His family has said Perez was returning home from a nearby liquor store after purchasing a bottle of Remy Martin VSOP, his favorite. The video, recorded just before his death, shows Perez walking into Vizcaya Liquor Store at 25th and Sherman Streets, about three blocks from where he was shot, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and city police said.

As a Fortune 500 executive with a mahogany-paneled office in Red Bank, Mark Hodges could watch sailboats gliding on the waters of the Navesink. His new full-time workplace at St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral parish offers a view of a half-vacant duplex on a tired East Camden street. But the scene inspires in its own way, reminding him of the many houses to rebuild, families to bolster, and children to teach in the city. And a new parish project called the Joseph Fund - Hodges is executive director - aims to raise the money to get the job done.

One person was killed in Camden today in the city's ninth homicide of the year. Shortly after midday, the Breaking News Network reported a shooting on the 1200 block of Chase Street in the Whitman Park section. Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Camden Count Prosecutor's Office, confirmed the slaying, but he didn't immediately have additional information. The killing is the third this week. On Tuesday, two men were slain in unrelated incidents in the Fairview section and in East Camden.

Jake Silpe led Cherry Hill East with 23 points Thursday, and the Cougars knocked off Camden, 61-57, in the Virginia Whitaker Tournament. Camden is The Inquirer's 10th-ranked team in South Jersey. Silpe also dished out seven assists. Cherry Hill East's Hank Davis knocked down four of seven three-pointers and finished with 14 points. Tavaris Headen put up 21 points in a losing effort. ESCIT John Castaldo Flight. After trailing by eight at halftime, Rancocas Valley rallied to beat Liberty, 53-50, in overtime at Trenton Catholic.

Jake Silpe led Cherry Hill East with 23 points, and the Cougars knocked off Camden, 61-57, Thursday in the Virginia Whitaker Tournament. Camden is The Inquirer's 10th-ranked team in South Jersey. ESCIT John Castaldo Flight. After trailing by eight at halftime, Rancocas Valley rallied to beat Liberty, 53-50, in overtime at Trenton Catholic. Lenape Holiday Showcase. Zach Paige scored 16 points to lead Sterling past Seneca, 61-58. In other Showcase action, host Lenape topped Delsea, 40-35, behind Kendall Green's 12 points.

A man beaten on Nov. 2 succumbed to his injuries on Friday making him the 58th homicide victim in Camden. The death matches the record number of homicides in the city set in 1995. Gregory Holder, 45 of Cherry Hill died Friday at about 12:30 p.m. The death was announced Saturday morning by Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk and Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson. Holder was assaulted on Broadway and Berkley Streets on Nov. 2 following an argument with two men over a drug transaction, officials said.