FATAL SPRAY OF STRAY BULLETS ECHOES VIOLENT PAST IN BRONX

Long ago, the corner of Rosewood Street and White Plains Road in the
Bronx succumbed to the kind of low-level drug dealing that defines
life on so many street corners in so many neighborhoods around New
York City. But it was still, neighbors thought, relatively safe.

Certainly safe enough for Sergio Camargo, 25, to go the grocery store,
his niece perched high on his shoulders. Or for 5-year-old Romel
Jenkins, who just started kindergarten in September, to take in a
late-afternoon walk with his parents and grandmother.

But around 6 p.m. Monday, in a crime that called to mind the random
street violence of earlier decades, Mr. Camargo and Romel were killed
a few steps from each other when, the police said, they were struck by
stray bullets from a gunfight between two people. It was a shooting
reminiscent of scores of others from late 80's and early 90's, at the
height of the crack cocaine epidemic, when the police said as many as
30 people a year were killed by stray bullets.

"To lose a 5-year-old boy and an innocent citizen in a shooting like
this -- just absurd and horrible," said Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who
also announced a $12,000 reward, including $10,000 from his office,
for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved
in the case.

Yesterday morning, a police van rolled past the low-slung convenience
stores and nail shops of the Olinville neighborhood where the shooting
occurred, and officers handed out fliers soliciting information. Last
night, Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik announced that the police
were now looking for Paul Stan, 21, who the police believe fired the
fatal shots. Mr. Kerik said that Mr. Stan, who also uses the name
Kenroy Hinds, was wanted on other charges, including assault, before
the shooting.

In the neighborhood, two families mourned. "Whoever did this to my son
has got to pay," said a sobbing Tisha McClure, 21, the mother of Romel
Jenkins. She was walking only a few steps behind her son when he was
killed.

The other victim, Mr. Camargo, had been in town on vacation from his
job at a carwash in Arizona, his family said. He had intended to
return home on Friday, but he had not seen his sister and brother for
nearly two years, so he decided to extend his trip and spend more time
with them -- even though he disliked New York City. "Too many cars,
too many buildings, too many people,' he told relatives.

At 6 p.m. Monday, the two families were strolling from opposite
directions toward the same, foreboding spot. Romel Jenkins's family
was coming down Olinville Avenue on a trip to take him and his sister
to the Sunshine Market convenience store to buy cakes and candy. The
two children were walking a few feet ahead of their grandmother,
Stella Jenkins, 51, who had her purse and Romel's Pokemon book bag
slung over her shoulder.

The brother and sister, following instructions not to cross streets
without adults, waited at Rosewood for their grandmother. Then, the
gunfire began. Ms. Jenkins screamed, "Run."

Romel's sister took off, but he was struck before he could move. Ms.
Jenkins said that her grandson slowly turned around to face her after
he was hit, his face expressionless as he fell. "There were so many
bullets, so much firing," she said. "He was my grandson and there was
nothing I could do." She, too, ran from the shots. "I knew he was
dead," she added. "I didn't want to look at him lying there dead."

In the Camargo household, Monday night was grocery night. Mr. Camargo,
with his 4-year-old niece Lilliana riding on his shoulders, walked
down White Plains Road toward the nearby Key Food Supermarket with
other family members following them. Then they neared Rosewood Street,
about a block away from the Jenkins family.

"Gunshots go off," recalled Mr. Camargo's brother, Manuel Lopez, who
was only a few steps behind. "Boom, boom, boom, boom."

Mr. Lopez said he did not know who to worry about first. Many of those
he loved most were under fire with him right there on that sidewalk.
Besides his brother, there was his sister, Rosalba Camargo, his wife,
Alda Lopez, and his son, Mario. Mr. Lopez stood motionless as the
gunfire roared around him. The rest of his family scattered. Except
for his brother, Sergio.

"He said, 'I've been shot, I've been shot,' " Mr. Lopez recalled.
Within moments, the rest of the family was at his side. His sister
told him to stop kidding around. They knew that he was not kidding
when he began to lose his balance. Alda Lopez took her daughter off
Sergio Camargo's shoulders as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his
chest.

"He was saying, 'I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding,' " Mr. Lopez said.
Rosalba Camargo cradled her brother and tried to cover his wounds and
comfort him. But Mr. Camargo did not speak again and he began to bleed
from his mouth. Mr. Camargo was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m. at Jacobi
Medical Center. Romel was declared dead at 6:50 p.m. at Montefiore
Medical Center.

The police recovered 18 shell casings at the scene of the shooting,
which neighborhood residents felt may have been prompted by a long-
running feud between drug dealers. Some young people in the
neighborhood said there had long been an unwritten rule to clear the
local playground by 9 p.m. for fear of drive-by shootings by dealers.

And residents said that there had also been two shootings last week
and that they feared that there might be more.

"I'm very concerned about the drug markets in this community," said
Hugh Beckford, the head of Caribbean and American Family Service, a
community group. "Sooner or later it escalates and when that happens,
it'll be worse -- as hard as that is to imagine."