A 37-year-old man identified by the initials H.C. was fatally shot in the late afternoon of February 29, 2024, on South Florida Avenue in Atlantic City. Officers arriving just before 6 p.m. found H.C. with gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. H.C. was a father of six and the primary caregiver for two children, ages 9 and 14.

The night before his death H.C. posted on Facebook that people who were supposed to love him wanted him in jail or dead. He had survived a prior shooting in March 2010 and was facing several pending cases, including allegations of domestic violence that led to his incarceration in January 2024; a public safety assessment had recommended continued custody but he was released after a detention hearing. The neighborhood has seen recent violence: another man, Luis Rosa Rodriguez, was shot dead on the same block in November 2023, and a nearby drug-trafficking ring was dismantled the previous year with 16 arrests.

No arrests have been announced. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office or the Atlantic City Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit.