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Four arrested in shooting of Linwood man in Atlantic City


  • Crime-Courts

A fight outside an Atlantic City bar led to a Linwood man being shot early Sunday morning.

Four Philadelphia men are jailed in the shooting, after police were called to the Cinco de Mayo bar at about 4:30 a.m., according to an affidavit obtained by BreakingAC.

Police did not name the bar in a news release issued Wednesday.

The four suspects came to the front of the bar in the 2400 block of Atlantic Avenue, where surveillance shows them arguing with security, the affidavit states. The men then walk back to a black  SUV with a Pennsylvania tag.

The vehicle made a U-turn and came back in front of the bar, where someone from the vehicle fires at a group of people.

The 31-year-old victim was struck in the abdomen, the affidavit states. He was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's City Campus, where he was in critical but stable condition.

His name was not released.

Arriving officers got a description of the four men and what they were wearing. About an hour later, Officer Moustafa Maarouf found the vehicle parked and running in the first block of N. South Carolina Avenue, according to the affidavit.

The driver was identified as 19-year-old Javier Saloma. Felix Gomez-Villa, 38, was in the passenger seat.

They matched the descriptions of Suspects 1 and 2, the affidavit states. 

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Saloma exited the vehicle, but Gomez-Villa initially refused to cooperate and ignored police commands as he reached around the vehicle, according to the affidavit. But he was eventually taken into custody.

Saloma told police that he was in the front passenger seat when the shooting happened, and that it was someone in the back seat, according to the affidavit.

Police then told him that surveillance showed the back and driver's side windows were up at the time of the shooting and that the muzzle flash was seen coming from the front passenger window, he claimed the driver shot, the affidavit states.

An investigation by the Violent Crimes Unit led to a warranted search of the vehicle, where police found a loaded handgun and evidence of gunfire, police spokesman Capt. Kevin Fair said in a release.

Detectives identified two additional suspects, Alexis Jeromino Torres and Carlos Medina Morales.  

Officers Bryan Victoria-Garcia and Jonathan Perez arrested Jeromino Torres, 22, on Monday in the 2900 block of Atlantic Avenue. Medina Morales, 23, surrendered to detectives the next day at the Clayton G. Graham Public Safety Building.

All were charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a defaced firearm and three counts of conspiracy. Gomez-Villa was additionally charged with obstruction.

They are in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.

author

Lynda Cohen

BreakingAC founder who previously worked in newspapers for more than two decades. She is an NJPA award-winner and was a Stories of Atlantic City fellow.

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