It happened around 9:30 p.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of Thurman Street.
Police say 27-year-old Byaer Johnson went to the home of the child's mother where a domestic dispute broke out between Johnson and the woman's current boyfriend.
Witnesses tell police that Johnson suddenly pulled out a handgun and placed it on the floor.
When Johnson was asked to leave, he allegedly picked up the gun and shot the child in the face.
"This was not a misfire," said Chief Scott Thompson of Camden Police. "This was a point-blank range shooting of his own daughter."
He then allegedly pointed the gun at the mother's boyfriend and pulled the trigger, but the weapon jammed.
The boyfriend then fired his own gun, which police say he was carrying legally, and shot Johnson in the buttocks.
Police say Johnson then fled the scene, but officers found him running toward the Ivy Hill apartment complex in Camden and took him into custody.
The girl was is listed in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, but doctors say she could suffer paralysis as a result of her injuries.
Johnson was treated and released from Cooper, and was then transferred to the Camden County Jail.
"This was a deliberate act of evil. Period. What man shoots his child, let alone his own daughter?" said Chief Thompson.
Johnson, with addresses in Sicklerville, Camden and Lindenwold, has been charged with criminal attempted murder and other offenses.
The man who shot Johnson is not expected to face charges.
