In the late afternoon of May 8, 2021, the quiet streets of Paulsboro, New Jersey, were shattered by an eruption of gunfire that claimed the life of 25-year-old Cory Ayers Bunch. A native of Camden, Bunch was in the vicinity of West Adams and Delaware Streets when the violent encounter unfolded at approximately 4:21 p.m. When Paulsboro police officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a grim tableau.
Cory Ayers Bunch and another man, 28-year-old Aaron Lamont Owens, also from Camden, were found deceased, having succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.
The violence of that spring day did not end with the two fatalities. A short distance from where Bunch and Owens lay, a third man was discovered inside a vehicle, suffering from critical gunshot injuries. He was swiftly transported to Cooper Hospital in Camden for emergency medical treatment. The Gloucester County Medical Examiner's Office later conducted autopsies on both Cory Ayers Bunch and Aaron Lamont Owens, confirming that their deaths were the result of gunshot wounds and officially ruling them as homicides.
In the wake of the double homicide, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office and the Paulsboro Police Department launched an intensive investigation into the slayings. Believing that there were more witnesses to the events than had initially come forward, authorities made public appeals for anyone with information to contact them. Detectives expressed their belief that these yet-unheard accounts could provide crucial details to piece together the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting. Despite the ongoing investigation and the pleas for public assistance, no suspects have been publicly identified, and no arrests have been announced in connection with the deaths of Cory Ayers Bunch and Aaron Lamont Owens. The case remains an active and open investigation, leaving a community to grapple with the unanswered questions surrounding the violent loss of two young men.
