I don't know the details of the story you posted, but I suspect the removal of the camera had nothing to do with someone running a red light and killing three people. Most of the motorists who are caught by these cameras are trying to beat the light at the very end of the yellow phase, so the traffic signal is almost always in an "all-red" phase when the violations occur. The occasional motorist who just drives through a red light in the middle of the red phase when cross traffic has a green light is rare, and is often an egregious violator (like someone fleeing a crime scene) who isn't going to be deterred by a red light camera anyway.
New Jersey had a bunch of towns test red light cameras under a two-year pilot program a few years ago. I don't know how successful the program was at reducing traffic injuries and fatalities, but the program was shut down after one pathetic incident where hundreds of people received red light violation notices in the mail stemming from one evening in downtown Newark when police officers were directing traffic through red lights along a major road as a traffic control measure after a major event at the Prudential Center. The program might have survived that debacle except for the fact that one of the people bagged by the camera was the spouse of a state legislator.
when police officers were directing traffic through red lights along a major road as a traffic control measure after a major event at the Prudential Center.
i.e. the one you mentioned suggests something far more nefarious than simply “making a mistake”.