3 people, including an 8-year-old girl, were shot in Kensington after a crash, police said
The victims include an 8-year-old girl who was struck in the chest, police say.
Three people, including an 8-year-old girl on her way home from school, were shot in Kensington Thursday afternoon, after a man fired indiscriminately into the street following a car crash, police said.
Shots rang out just before 3 p.m. on the 300 block of East Allegheny Street after a car collided with a man riding a scooter, said Deputy Police Commissioner Pedro Rosario. After the crash, the rider of the scooter got up and started shooting at the car that hit him, sending bullets flying toward other drivers and pedestrians, Rosario said.
A 47-year-old woman seated in her car just up the block was shot twice in the face and shoulder, and a 45-year-old man walking by was struck in the legs. Both were in stable condition at Temple University Hospital.
An 8-year-old girl in a separate car near the scene was also shot, struck once in the chest, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.
She was rushed to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and was in stable condition, he said.
» READ MORE: Twenty-four children were killed in shootings last year in Philadelphia. These are their stories.
The girl, Vanore said, had just been released from school nearby, and was on her way home with her father when shots flew through the car.
None of the victims appear to be associated with the black sedan that collided with the scooter, said Vanore. That driver fled the scene.
The shooter, dressed in a Gap hoodie and black sweatpants, also fled, Vanore said. Police are reviewing surveillance footage to try and identify him.
The child is the youngest person to be shot in Philadelphia so far this year, and is one of 50 people under the age of 18 to be struck by gunfire in 2024. The shooting comes as city leaders have taken a renewed focus on addressing crime and quality-of-life issues in Kensington, the epicenter of the city’s opioids crisis. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel has said that reducing violence in the neighborhood is key to keeping children safe and reducing their exposure to trauma.
The gunfire also comes as shootings across Philadelphia are down sharply compared to previous years, including in Kensington. So far this year, the city has recorded almost half as many shooting victims as this time in 2023, according to police data. The number of homicides recorded this year are also at their lowest point since 2016.
Police are asking anyone with information about Thursday’s shooting to call 215-686-8477.