A party that ended in the shooting death of a Camden teen should not have happened in the first place, according to officials.
On Easter Sunday, 18-year-old Tyimer Bright was struck and killed during a shooting in the parking lot of the Pitt's Automotive building on the 2800 block of Crescent Boulevard. The building is located in Camden while the parking lot where the shooting took place is located in Haddon Township.
Officials say a cease all operations warning sticker had been placed on the building back on March 2 and the building was shut down.
"That location was closed and should not have been open for any type of business," said Camden City Council President Frank Moran.
Bright had attended a party on top of the building that was promoted heavily on social media, according to investigators.
Officials said the party was cut short when someone threw a rock through the window of the building. As the partygoers left Pitt's Automotive and went into the parking lot, officials say at least one gunman suddenly opened fire. Residents who live in nearby homes told NBC10 they heard as many as ten shots.
Tyimer was struck several times. He was taken to Cooper University Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 3:25 a.m. Monday. A 16-year-old girl suffered a graze wound in the shooting while a 17-year-old girl was struck once. They are both expected to be okay.
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Investigators say whoever had a key to the vacant building allowed the teen party to go on. City leaders are now investigating whether the owner of Pitt's Automotive sublet the building from a tenant next door. NBC10 reached out to the owner but we have not yet heard back from him.
"Civilly I can tell you this guy will be held liable for loss of life and whatever is happening in that community as a nuisance," Moran said.
Police are currently reviewing surveillance video and investigating who hosted the party. An advertisement for the event on social media stated that “security would be tight.”
“At this point we don’t know whether there were multiple shooters or if there was one individual shooter,” said Camden County Homicide Sergeant Terry King. “It looks like based on what we’ve talked to a few witnesses about that there were no problems or altercations prior to the shooting.”
If you have any information on the shooting, please call contact Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Michael Rhoads at (856) 225-8561, Haddon Township Police Detective Don Quinn at (856) 833-6208 or Camden County Police Detective Edward Gonzalez at (856) 757-7420.
You can also email information to ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org or send a text to CCTIP.
