A grieving mother had strong words for the gunman responsible for her son’s death.
“You’re a coward,” said Tracey Bright. “You need to be ashamed of yourself because you took away my son.”
Bright’s son, 18-year-old Tyimer Bright, of Camden, was shot and killed during a party Easter Sunday in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Tyimer was at a party at the Rooftop Lounge on the 2800 block of Crescent Boulevard around 11:30 p.m. The event had been promoted heavily on social media, according to investigators.
Officials said it was cut short when someone threw a rock through the window of the building. As the partygoers left the bar 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.
“I was scared,” said one of the residents, a teen girl who did not want to be identified. “I literally felt like they were going to start coming into peoples’ houses. Literally hundreds of kids were running down the street, hiding behind peoples’ cars.”
Witnesses described the scene as total chaos.
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“The shots just let off all over the place,” Bright said. “All the kids ran. There were kids running on the highway all over the place trying to get away and my son got hit.”
Tyimer was struck several times. He was taken to Cooper University Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 3:25 a.m. A 16-year-old girl suffered a graze wound in the shooting while a 17-year-old girl was struck once. The 16-year-old girl was released from the hospital while the 17-year-old is stable.
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.”
Bright is hoping that more witnesses will come forward with information.
“They’re scared,” Bright said. “They don’t want to get shot too for saying anything. But unfortunately that’s the only way police are going to find out who killed my son.”
Bright, whose older son Byron drowned a few years ago, is also hoping the gunman will come forward.
“You were bold enough to grab a gun and pull the trigger and kill my son,” she said. “So be a man, and be bold enough to turn yourself in and face these charges.”
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.
