Camden girl, 11, shot in face - & cops say her dad did it

AN 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL faces potential paralysis after being shot in the face by her own father in Camden on Thursday night, authorities said Friday.

Police arrested the father, Byaer Johnson, 27, near the Ivy Hill apartments in Camden after he fled a rowhouse, on Thurman Street near Norris, where his daughter lives and where the incident occurred. He was charged with attempted murder and weapons offenses, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities say Johnson arrived at the house about 9:30 p.m., placed a handgun he was carrying on the floor and, when asked to leave, picked it up and shot the girl. He then fired the gun at a 28-year-old man who was in the house but the weapon jammed, authorities said.

During a subsequent struggle between them for the gun, Johnson was shot in the buttocks, then fled, police said.

The girl was in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital. Johnson, who has addresses in Camden, Lindenwold and Sicklerville, was being treated for his injury before being taken to Camden County jail.

A news release from the prosecutor's office made no mention of who owned the rowhouse and who else might live there.