9 people were shot, 1 fatally, during possible shoot-out at West Philly block party, police say

Nine people were shot, one fatally, when several gunmen sprayed at least 60 bullets through a crowd on a West Philadelphia street early Saturday morning, according to police. Two teenagers were among the wounded.

The shooting happened about 1:30 a.m. on the 500 block of North Creighton Street, said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. The victims ranged in age from 17 to 51, he said.

Some witnesses described the shooting as a “shoot-out” at a block party or barbecue on the rowhouse street, said Vanore, though he added that detectives were in the early stages of gathering information and evidence.

A woman who lives on the block said in an interview that at least 100 people had been outside for a birthday party before gunfire erupted.

“It was a nice party — they were dancing, drinking, having fun, and then these knuckleheads [opened fire],” said the woman, who declined to give her name because of fear of retribution.

One of the victims, a 19-year-old man, was pronounced dead early Saturday, said Vanore. He declined to identify the man pending family notification.

All but one of the wounded are female, police said, and were reported to be in stable condition.

By late Saturday morning, there were few signs remaining of the chaos from the night before, and residents were reluctant to speak about what happened. A few chalk circles remained visible on the street, showing where fired cartridge casings had been recovered. At least one resident’s window was cracked from a bullet. And some party balloons still swayed in the breeze.

The woman who saw the party happening said she was in her house by the time shots rang out. At first, she didn’t realize that the cracks were gunfire, she said, but by the time she heard the third shot, “I hit the floor.”

Vanore and a police statement gave this account of what happened:

Officers responded to multiple 911 calls about 1:30 a.m. Saturday and found several victims on the street suffering from gunshot wounds. Five victims were initially taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center — two by police, two by medics, and one in a private car — and two others showed up at the hospital in the hours afterward.

Later Saturday, police said that two 17-year-olds arrived at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia by private vehicle, were treated for leg wounds, and were released.

Police identified the others wounded only as two 20-year-old women, two 21-year-old women, a 47-year-old man, and a 51-year-old woman. Five of the women were hospitalized and reported in stable condition, police said.

The 19-year-old was shot throughout his face and body and was declared dead at 5:40 a.m.

Officers found at least 60 fired cartridge casings at the scene, from several different types of guns. Investigators were still seeking video and other evidence to determine who the shooters were, how many there were, and what prompted the gunfire.

The shooting in West Philadelphia came several hours after a double shooting was reported in North Philadelphia, according to police. In that case, a 45-year-old woman was critically wounded and a 65-year-old man was also struck when they were shot on the 900 block of West Glenwood Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday. Police said no arrests were made, and they weren’t certain of a motive.

Also Friday night, a 15-year-old was shot on the 2000 block of Sanger Street in Wissinoming just after 11 p.m. The teen was hospitalized in critical but stable condition, police said. No one was arrested and no gun was found.

More than 1,100 people have been shot in the city as of Wednesday, according to police statistics, and 245 of those victims have died. The pace of gunfire was about 23% lower than last year, the statistics show, but still much higher than the years before 2020, when gun violence began hitting record heights.