By Sam Wood
The Philadelphia Inquirer
CAMDEN, N.J. — A Camden police officer will remain hospitalized through the Easter weekend after being shot four times Monday during a struggle with a knife-wielding naked man.
Ramonita Rivera, a 15-year veteran of the Camden Police, was struck by two shots to her right shoulder, another to her left forearm and a graze wound to her forehead. She remains in serious but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
“She is slowly recovering from her injuries,” said police spokeswoman Teresa Sicard Archambeault. “She’s going to be o.k.”
Investigators are still trying to sort out how Rivera was shot and by whom.
Rivera, 45, the mother of two children, was one of the first officers to respond to a morning 911 call reporting a naked, knife-wielding man on a rampage in South Camden.
She was trying to subdue 19-year-old Lamont Morton near 10th and Morton Streets when he rushed at her. Morton charged Rivera and grabbed at her gun, investigators said.
Rivera fired several shots before Morton wrested control away of her service weapon.
Another officer, Dexter Miller, fired several shots at Morton, killing him.
Investigators are still trying to sort out how Rivera was shot and by whom.
Copyright 2008 The Philadelphia Inquirer