3 people were killed in a quadruple shooting in Crescentville

Three people were killed and a fourth person was wounded in a shooting Friday afternoon in the city’s Crescentville section, police said.

Police responded to a reported shooting around 3:35 p.m. in the area of Comly and Palmetto Streets and found three deceased victims on the 5900 block of Palmetto Street.

One victim was found on the front porch of a house, another just inside the house, and the third on the sidewalk, police said. All three were pronounced dead at the scene by medics.

A fourth victim — who was initially described as a 16-year-old boy shot in the abdomen — was dropped off at Jefferson Frankford Hospital. The teen was reported to be in critical condition and was expected to be transferred to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital.

Police found a gun at the shooting scene.

No arrests were reported, but two people were detained for questioning. They were believed to have dropped off the wounded teen at the hospital in a Ford Edge SUV. The vehicle was later found crashed. It was not immediately clear if they were detained at the crash scene or elsewhere.

As police investigated the shooting scene, neighbors observed the closed-off block in shock and despair.

Rodlena Sales came home from work around 5:45 p.m. to the lights of police cars and television cameras. She’s lived on the block since 2018 and she described the neighborhood as quiet.

”I thought this was a pretty decent neighborhood, and the police officer just told me four people were shot,” said Sales, who could muster little else, overwhelmed by the news.

Shierea Owens, a seven-year resident of the neighborhood, had tears streaming down her face after her 6-year-old daughter asked why their path home was cut off by police tape.

Owens said she didn’t personally know the victims but she’s gotten to know the neighbors because of her daughter and the neighborhood’s strong sense of community.

”We all watch each other’s kids, we watch them grow together, they play together,” she said. “We give them water ice … if we’re in the store and the kid doesn’t have enough, the next person is reaching out and saying here, I’ll pay for the rest.”