Man shot at woman holding infant when cops shot him, police say

The Camden man, who is still hospitalized, has been charged with attempted murder.

CAMDEN -- The man wounded Wednesday after being shot by a Camden County Police Department (CCPD) officer has been charged with attempted murder, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.

Jose A. Fernandez-Ventura, 38, of Camden, is also facing charges of aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

It was approximately 11:30 a.m. Wednesday when CCPD officers responded to the 2700 block of Federal Street for a 911 call reporting a domestic violence incident. Officers entered the stairwell of the residence and headed to the second floor of the property.

A 1-and-a-half-year-old child was seated at the top of the steps, according to the prosecutor's office, while the female victim was sitting on a sofa and holding an 8-month-old child in her lap.

Cops rush wounded woman to hospital

Fernandez-Ventura allegedly pointed a firearm at the woman and the infant, discharging it at "close range," the prosecutor's office said. He was still holding a weapon and approaching the woman when he was shot by an officer, authorities said.

Both Fernandez-Ventura and the woman were hospitalized. The prosecutor's office did not immediately say whether rounds fired by Fernandez-Ventura or police struck the female victim.

The officer who shot Fernandez-Ventura has been placed on administrative leave as the prosecutor's office investigates, per state Attorney General's Office guidelines.

In a video recording published on social media and viewed more than 100,000 times, the female victim is seen being carried from the scene by two officers who place her into a police vehicle.

Camden Police Chief J. Scott Thomson told NJ Advance Media on Thursday that this practice, rather than waiting for an ambulance to arrive, "could be the difference between life or death."