A 7-year-old becomes the first child shot in Philadelphia in 2023, shaking a Kensington block

A tight-knit block in Kensington was shaken by a shooting Wednesday night after an argument erupted in gunfire, critically injuring two men and wounding a 7-year-old girl resting on her great-grandmother’s couch.

At about 7:30 p.m. on the 2900 block of Rutledge Street, a 64-year-old man was shot in the face, and a 43-year-old man was shot twice in the abdomen, according to police. They were rushed to Temple University Hospital and remain in critical condition.

As bullets sprayed across the block, two shots pierced through 30-year resident Helen Figeroa’s front door. Meanwhile, her 7-year-old great-granddaughter, who visits after school, was resting on an ottoman near the door, watching TV. One of the shots struck her in the leg, above the ankle.

The girl, a second grader who loves to draw pictures for her friends and family, was rushed to St. Christopher’s Hospital by police, and is OK and recovering at home, Figeroa said.

“That really scared her, waking up and finding a hurt foot, then a bunch of cops surrounding her,” Figeroa said.

She is the first child to be shot in Philadelphia in 2023. Last year, 218 children were struck by gunfire, and 30 died.

Capt. John Walker, head of the department’s nonfatal shooting unit, said police recovered 15 shell casings at the scene. He said investigators are still trying to sort out how the shooting unfolded, including who pulled the gun and shot first.

But, according to one family who lives on the block and whose loved one was shot, the altercation started earlier Wednesday.

Evelyn Anavitate, a 15-year resident of the block, said her adult daughter and 16-year-old grandson were arriving home from work around 4 p.m., but a man was working on a car, blocking access to the street. Her daughter asked the man to move so she could get by, Anavitate said, but he started yelling, then tried to hit her with a metal pipe. The 16-year-old tried to intervene, but the man pulled a gun and threatened them, Anavitate said her daughter told her.

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The mother and son were able to get around the man and drive away, she said, then called police. By then, the man had left. They showed police his picture, and officers left to look for him, Anavitate said.

The family had dinner together that evening, she said, and then went outside to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. Children played football in the empty grass lot on the street, as adults mingled on their stoops.

Suddenly, the man from earlier, who police have identified as Roberto “Chino” Morales, returned. He wanted to speak with Anavitate’s son-in-law, Jose Santos, about what happened earlier, but when Santos approached him, Morales pulled a gun and started shooting, Anavitate said.

“He was just shooting at anyone,” said Jay Roma, Anavitate’s daughter.

Santos tried to wrestle the gun away from him, Roma and Anavitate said, but he was shot twice in the abdomen. He remains sedated at the hospital, and was set to undergo a second surgery Thursday afternoon, Anavitate said.

As Santos lay bleeding, Anavitate said, Morales turned the gun to her.

“I said, ’Please, Chino, don’t do this, please don’t shoot,’” she said Thursday, crying as she recalled the confrontation.

She ducked behind a car. Then, she said, another person on the block shot back at Morales, striking him in the face. They declined to name him but said he planned to turn himself in to police Thursday.

“He’s a hero in everybody’s eyes on the block,” Roma said. “If he hadn’t took action, it would have been everybody shot.”

The family is traumatized and worried for Santos, Anavitate said. She hasn’t slept since. Every time she closes her eyes, she sees the shooter.

» READ MORE: Can widespread trauma therapy prevent gun violence? This community leader says yes.

Morales remains in critical condition, Walker said, and will be charged with illegal gun possession. The investigation remains ongoing, and he may face additional charges once investigators sort out how the shooting unfolded, he said.

Walker also said police have not ruled out whether anyone else, including Santos, will be charged. He asked any witnesses with video or information on what happened to come forward.

Last year, arguments were determined to be the motive behind about a third of the city’s homicides. Experts and law enforcement have said that given the widespread access to guns, trivial disagreements more often escalate to shootings.

On Thursday morning, longtime neighbors embraced in the street, shaken by the violence that they say continues to plague the city. So far this year, two people have been fatally shot, and 24 people have been injured.

Ginny Frizzle, a 55-year Rutledge Street resident, said neighbors look out for one another. They try to keep the area drug dealers and users off the street; they sweep their stoops and keep the grassy field trash-free. Frizzle even goes by “Grandma Ginny” to some area kids, whom she often babysits.

“We’re all family on this block,” said Frizzle, 61.

She can’t imagine ever leaving. But she worries how much longer she can stand the neighborhood’s violence, largely driven by the opioid crisis.

“Is this ever going to end?” she asked.