Cruz family Labor Day domestic dispute leads to a mass-killing in Camden.

[nurseronda]

Could you imagine being a child of 7 or 10 and watch as your extended family gets into an argument and your Grandfather pulls out a handgun and started shooting at your parents?; watching them as they fall to the floor with blood pouring out of their bodies. The first thing you would do is to get away as quickly as you can to get help. This is exactly what two children of those ages had to do to keep from being killed themselves. They ran to a neighbor's home as the shooting started and were unharmed. Three women, ages 81, 57, and 33 years-old were killed along with a 30 year-old male.


The shooter, a 54-year-old man killed four relatives and himself in his home on Monday after his family quarreled. Neighbors were not certain who lived there either, because the family was so close and four generations gathered there daily; heard shots ring out a little after 5 p.m. But unlike a large portion of slayings in the city near Philadelphia, this one does not appear to be related to illegal drugs.
Police have not released the names of the victims but the 30 year-old was identified by a friend as Felix Cruz.

http://wcbstv.com/local/camden.shoot....2.807966.html

Just might be Felix Cruz's MySpace:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndid=177946254

[WryBread]

I'm becoming glad my family is small and not very close.

[nurseronda]

Damn! Still no updates on this case.

[Unamused Cat]

Authorities said the family had gathered for a Labor Day dinner. But Cruz and his wife "got into a fierce argument" and Cruz broke a dish in anger. At that point, Felix Cruz asked his father to leave. He didn't.

Cruz and his son began arguing upstairs. When they returned downstairs, Cruz locked the front door and shot his son with a 9 mm handgun, authorities said. He then killed the three women, reloading at some point.

Sixteen shots were fired.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/app...20002/1001/RSS

[nurseronda]

Check this one out: Domestic Violence Victim Determined to "Begin Over"
Marisol Cruz is a mother of two and victim of domestic violence. Marisol says the abuse started right away ... it was emotional at first. It quickly got worse. Wow, first her husband abused her and then her father kills her..So sad.

http://wfmz.com/view/?id=152572

[nurseronda]

5 slain in Camden home identified

Felix Cruz, Cruz's 30-year-old son, lived in the house with his father and mother, 57-year-old Anna Paulino. Paulino's 81-year-old mother, Mary Paulino, lived there as well. Marisol Cruz, the couple's 33-year-old daughter, lived elsewhere in Camden, as does the couple's third child, an adult daughter who was not there at the time of the slayings.

Authorities believe the killings were sparked by a fierce argument that erupted between Cruz and his wife about 5 p.m. as members of the family gathered for a Labor Day dinner.

Marisol Cruz's children, the only witnesses, have told investigators they do not know what caused the fight.

Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, said that at some point in the argument, Cruz angrily broke a dish, prompting Felix Cruz to order his father to leave the house.

Instead, the two men went upstairs, still arguing, Laughlin said. When they came back down, Cruz locked the front door and began firing, shooting his son first and then the three women. Authorities believe Cruz reloaded his 9mm handgun at some point.

By the time police arrived, Felix and Marisol Cruz and Mary Paulino were dead. Luis Cruz and his wife were taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where they later died.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/app...20002/1001/RSS