Masked gunman jumps in car and shoots five people killing two including 18-yr-old driver Jewel Manire

A gunman jumped into a car and opened fire immediately killing two of five victims inside before pushing out the driver’s body and taking off with his three surviving passengers still inside.

Police in Camden, New Jersey say the masked man armed also with a machete jumped into the parked vehicle late Saturday night sparking a shockingly gruesome attack even for a city consistently ranked as the nation's most dangerous.

The gunman is said to be still at large while investigators believe he may have known at least one of his victims.

Tragic death: Khalil Gibson, 20, of Camden was sitting in the passenger seat when he was shot and killed by the gunman

While parked in an alley on Hull road around 11.45pm, the group’s vehicle was approached by the masked man who entered on the driver's side soon before delivering a spray of bullets inside, said Camden County prosecutor's spokesman Jason Laughlin.

He fired several shots, killing the 18-year-old driver, Jewel Manire, and Khalil Gibson, 20, of Camden.

A 20-year-old woman was wounded in the face during his gun fire, a 16-year-old was shot in the head and another 16-year-old in the arm, Laughlin said.

After the gunman stopped shooting, he pushed aside Ms Manire's body and drove off with all the victims inside except the teenager who was shot in the arm and managed to escape and called 911.

 

 

Identity: Police are working to find a motive for the gunman, who has not been identified, attacked the vehicle and its passengers while they suspect he knew at least one of his victims, Ms Manire and Mr Gibson pictured

The car was driven to a nearby dirt road, where the 20-year-old woman also jumped out and ran off. The gunman briefly pursued her but could not catch her, and he soon ran away.

He was described as Hispanic and about 6 feet tall. He wore a black mask over the lower part of his face and yellow latex gloves.

All three wounded victims remained in the hospital on Sunday with two in critical condition.

Camden, a city of about 80,000 that sits along the Delaware River across from Philadelphia, continually ranks as one of the most dangerous and poorest in the U.S. The two fatalities bring the city's homicide total this year to 50, eight short of the record reached in 1995.

Fleeing the scene: Police are seen late last night where the vehicle was abandoned by the gunman before he took off remaining at large by Sunday

City officials are trying to replace the police department with a force run by the county, a move that would circumvent union rules in order to increase the number of officers while keeping costs the same.

Last month, authorities said they were trying to determine whether a contaminated batch of PCP was going around town after a child was decapitated and two other children's throats were slashed by people believed to be on the illegal drug.

A man charged in the attack admitted to police that he had smoked 'wet,' a combination of PCP and marijuana.