Five people shot at a Chinese restaurant in South Philadelphia
More than 40 shell casings were found at the scene outside the Twin Dragon takeout, police said.
Five people were shot in a barrage of gunfire inside a crowded Chinese restaurant in South Philadelphia on Monday night, police said.
Shortly before 10:30 p.m., police responded to a report of gunshots at Twin Dragon restaurant, at 27th and Dickinson Streets. When officers arrived, they found a man with a gunshot wound to the leg and took him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
Three other men later arrived at the hospital in a private car and said they had been shot at the restaurant, Small said. And yet another victim of the shooting, a 21-year-old man, was taken to Cooper University Medical Center in Camden, police said.
All five victims were in stable condition, police said.
A 23-year-old man was shot four times — twice in the left leg and twice in the right thigh. A 45-year-old man was shot once in the left thigh. Three 21-year-olds were also shot, police said, one in his right arm, another multiple times in both legs, and the third in his right ankle and left knee.
Police said they do not know what prompted the spray of gunfire inside the cramped takeout restaurant. Neighbors said there were 10 people inside at the time of the shooting. More than 40 shell casings were found at the scene.
No arrests have been made, and the motive for the shooting was unclear, police said.
On Tuesday morning, metal shutters covered the windows and doorway of the restaurant, which opens daily at 4:30 p.m. No one answered the phone number for the business.
Outside, more than 20 circles of blue police chalk, marking where shell casings fell, dotted the intersection of 27th and Dickinson Streets. Splatters of dried blood stained the pavement for a block west of the restaurant.
On steps a few houses down, residents said they heard gunshots around 10:30 p.m. the night before. The sound was so sustained, around 15 seconds, they said, that some of them thought it might be fireworks.
One man, who asked not to be identified out of fear for his safety, said he was sitting on his front steps on Monday night when he saw two men enter the restaurant. About 10 minutes later, he said, he saw the men run outside, then turn and fire at least a dozen bullets into the restaurant before jumping in their car and speeding away.
Monday’s shooting was the latest violent incident at Twin Dragon over the years.
In December 2017, Nasir Livingston, 17, was shot in the head when one of two masked gunmen fired through the restaurant’s glass door, police said. Livingston died from his injuries three days later at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
Police said Livingston’s death was part of a bitter feud between rival gangs — the 27th Street group and the 31st Street group. Livingston was connected with the 27th Street group, police said, while the shooters were connected to the 31st Street group.
Two men, Khalid Harrison and Mujihad Deen, were charged in 2019 with murder, conspiracy, and related crimes in the shooting. The outcome of those cases was not immediately clear.
In March 2012, Damon G. Stafford, 20, was fatally shot at the takeout spot in a murder-for-hire plot, police said. A man police say was the getaway driver for the shooters was charged with murder and related crimes in 2012. The outcome of that case, too, was unclear.
Anyone with information about Monday night’s crime is asked to call the department’s shooting investigation unit at 215-686-8270. People can also submit tips anonymously by calling or texting the department’s tip line at 215-686-8477.