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What we know and don’t know about the South Street mass shooting that killed 3, injured at least 11

Gunfire erupted around 11:30 p.m. Saturday along one of Philadelphia’s most popular dining, shopping, and entertainment corridors, igniting panic and sending people screaming for cover.

Philadelphia police officers and detectives look over evidence at the scene of a shooting on and near South Street that left three dead and 11 wounded late Saturday.
Philadelphia police officers and detectives look over evidence at the scene of a shooting on and near South Street that left three dead and 11 wounded late Saturday.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

Gunfire erupted in the area of Second and South Streets late Saturday night leaving three people dead and at least 11 injured along one of Philadelphia’s most popular dining, shopping, and entertainment corridors.

The shooting occurred on a weather-perfect weekend evening that had drawn hundreds to the area, igniting panic and sending people screaming and scrambling for cover.

Here’s what we know and don’t know.

What happened?

At least 14 people were shot in the area of Second and South Streets and three of them died late Saturday, police said.

Around 11:30 p.m., three men got into a fight on the 200 block of South Street. Video shows the encounter began as a fistfight, with one man exchanging words with two others, one of whom appears to draw a handgun.

After a short brawl, a volley of gunshots rang out. Vanore said two of the three men in the fight fired at each other. One of them — the man who first drew a handgun — was killed, Vanore said. The other was hospitalized in critical condition.

But the shots in the packed nightlife district sparked chaos. Within seconds, police said, several other people began shooting into crowds gathered outside.

One shooter was a man on the 200 block of South Street, near an intersection with American Street. Police said he fired westbound on South Street. A responding officer, who has not been identified, returned fire, and Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the officer likely struck him. The man dropped his gun and an extended magazine and ran away.

At least two other guns were fired amid the mayhem.

» READ MORE: Three dead, at least 11 wounded in mass shooting on South Street, Philadelphia police say

The investigation continues, with authorities still working to piece together video, ballistics, and other evidence.

Who were the victims?

Police have identified the three people killed in Saturday’s mass shooting. They are: Kristopher Minners, 22; Alexis Quinn, 24; and Gregory “Japan” Jackson, 34.

Eleven people were wounded in the shooting, with the victims ages ranging from 17 to 69. Police said four of the injured were 17. The others included two 18-year-olds, two 20-year-olds, a 23-year-old, a 43-year-old, and a 69-year-old.

» READ MORE: 69-year-old man shot on South Street recalls how the night went from party to mayhem

Who were the shooters?

Police have identified three shooters, and were searching for an unnamed fourth person on Monday. .

Quran Garner, 18, was taken into custody Monday. Garner used a ghost gun and fired into the crowd on South Street after a fight between two other men turned into a firefight nearby, said Joanne Pescatore, chief of homicide for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Garner faces two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers. Police responding to the scene fired at Garner, injuring his hand.

Garner began shooting after Micah Towns, one of his friends, got into a fight with Jackson, one of the three people who died, Pescatore said. Both Jackson and Towns had permits to carry firearms. Jackson fired first and Towns returned a deadly shot, she said.

District Attorney Larry Krasner said Towns, who was hospitalized in serious condition Monday, wouldn’t be charged because he acted in self defense.

Were there other shootings in the area?

Police responded to an incident at Fourth and Bainbridge Streets in which shots were fired around 11 p.m. Saturday, but no one was hit. Two men dressed in black ran south on 4th Street and onto Bainbridge Street — both of them firing handguns, according to surveillance video obtained by The Inquirer.

As officers were seeking to hold that crime scene, Vanore said, the shootings erupted on South Street. It was not clear whether or how the shooting was linked to the South Street gunfire.

Correction: A previous version of this article used an incorrect age provided by police for Quinn, one of the victims who was killed.