O
A Camden
police officer
inspects an
abandoned
building
looking for
squatters,
prostitutes
and drug
dealers.
CAMDEN, N.J.
GETTY IMAGES REPORTAGE
ON A COLD AUTUMN NIGHT, Darran Johnson,
22, stands by the police tape strung between
two trees in the housing complex where he lives
with his mom and siblings. On a walkway 20
feet away, a middle-aged man lies dead, shot
in the throat and head, sprawled on his back
beside a battered 10-speed bicycle. His face is
masked in blood that gleams bright red in the
crime scene photographer’s flash. ¶ Johnson
watches tight-lipped as investigators comb the
grass for shell casings. “Kids play out here.
Average people live here,” he says. “I’m shaking.
It’s getting too close.” ¶ Gunfire rings out often
in the neighborhood, he says, a regular remind-
By JOHN RUDOLF
Photographs by ANTONIO BOLFO