5 remain hospitalized in Lindenwold shootings

The commotion outside the Arborwood Apartments in Lindenwold woke the neighbors on Mary Lane Sunday night, and they soon discovered a crime scene - again.

The rapid gunfire about 10 p.m. sent five people to Cooper University Hospital. All survived overnight, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Information on their conditions was not available today.

The news around Arborwood, once a pristine condominium complex, seems to be more grim as each year passes, said Kevin Sellman, 56, a Pleasantville schoolteacher who lives in an apartment next to where the shooting unfolded.

"I've been here for seven years, and it has been going downhill for seven years. That's it. I'm moving," Sellman said today as he stood outside his home speaking with neighbors. "What a terrible way to end the summer."

Police patrol the area frequently, but Sellman said that doesn't stop the drug and gang activity that has invaded the diverse neighborhood of mixed ethnicities and ages. He pointed to the area where a teen was fatally shot sleeping on a couch four years ago and to another apartment where a man was killed in the last year.

"There's gang activity all around here and the cops know it," Sellman said. "It's not hard to spot. They're all wearing the same color shirts."

Authorities said they were investigating the shooting and did not release a motive. They did not identify the victims by name, but said they were a 30-year-old Camden man, a 38-year-old Lindenwold man, a 22-year-old Gloucester Township man, a 21-year-old Lindenwold man, and a 20-year-old Voorhees man.

All the victims knew one another, according to authorities. The men were standing in a group of about seven in front of a residence in the 2200 block of Mary Lane, off Gibbsboro Road, when at least two gunman opened fire, sending those outside scattering for cover, authorities said. Neighbors said the gunmen ran off.

Police markers remained today in more than a dozen spots where bullets passed through the wood siding of one apartment. The picture window had a large bullet hole. Neighbors said they were unsure whether the man who recently moved into that apartment was the target or whether he was injured. They said he lived there with his dog, never caused problems, and frequently picked up trash and raked the leaves in front of several apartments.

Sellman said the man had appeared friendly. He said he was surprised when he awoke to pick up his girlfriend and police ordered him back inside. Other neighbors said several blocks were restricted as police searched for the gunmen, warning people not to leave their apartments. Only residents were allowed in, escorted by police through a crime scene that neighbors said seemed more like a movie set, with flashing police lights, bright flood lights, and ambulances.

Another neighbor said he had called police in the past and was later threatened.

Ralph Causey, 61, who rents his apartment to Sellman, said he moved out about eight years ago.

"When I moved here, it was unbelievably manicured, a beautiful place to live," Causey said, pointing to a lot now overgrown with weeds, trash strewed around the garbage bin, and for-rent signs posted on numerous units. "The property has devaluated here tremendously."

In 2005, a drug argument erupted into a shooting, killing Barry "Reese" Robinson, 14, an innocent bystander asleep on his aunt's couch.

A year earlier, the borough designated Arborwood a redevelopment zone with promises of razing the 38 buildings to make way for new houses, shops, and offices. Many sold their homes to landlords who stopped screening residents. Causey said some apartments sit vacant for months.

Authorities said they did not have detailed descriptions of Sunday night's shooters and urged anyone with information to contact Investigator George Saunders of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office at 856-225-8400 or Lindenwold police at 856-784-7566.