A 13-year-old boy and two 16-year-olds were wounded in a West Philly shooting
The gunfire erupted shortly after 4 p.m. in the area of Lansdowne Avenue and Frazier Street. No arrests were reported.
Three teenage boys were wounded — two critically — in a shooting late Monday afternoon in West Philadelphia, police said.
The gunfire erupted shortly after 4 p.m. in the area of Lansdowne Avenue and North Frazier Street. Police transported all three boys to Lankenau Medical Center.
A 13-year-old boy was shot once in the abdomen, police said. He was initially reported in critical condition but later upgraded to stable.
A 16-year-old boy was shot five times and was reported in extremely critical condition.
Another 16-year-old boy shot in the abdomen was listed in stable condition.
One of the juveniles was being held as a prisoner at the hospital, police said.
Police found dozens of spent shell casings from at least two separate-caliber firearms at the intersection of Lansdowne and Frazier. A house and at least two vehicles were struck by bullets.
Inspector Kpana Massaquoi said a group of kids was standing on Frazier Street when at least one shooter opened fire at least 50 times using a rifle.
Two of the boys are homeschooled and live on the block, he said, while the third lives nearby and attends Mastery Charter Shoemaker High School.
Massaquoi said one handgun was recovered in a side alley, and they believe it’s connected to the incident. Additional details, including motive and how the shooter arrived and fled, remains unclear. No suspects have been identified.
At the shooting scene, police laid evidence markers as neighbors watched from their porches and helicopters buzzed overhead.
And less than 100 yards east on Lansdowne Avenue, another crime scene was set up. Just as police began clearing the Frazier Street shooting, a man was shot in the leg near Allison Street and Lansdowne.
Police said he was a victim in a separate shooting.
Abdul-Kareem As-Salafi, a community responder for the Philadelphia Anti-Violence/Anti-Drug Network, said parents have to come together and keep guns out of their kids’ hands.
”This is bigger than the police,” he said, adding that no organization on its own can stop the violence.
Andre Key, also with PAAN, lamented the young age of the victims.
“How can you make sense of that?” he said.
”These are heartbreaking conditions. We got to come along and talk to the parents and try to offer resources and help and things of that nature,” As-Salafi added.
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, issued a statement Monday night lamenting “the scourge of gun violence [that] continues to devastate our city.”
The teachers’ union leader added: “I’ve said it so many times before — we cannot continue to live and die this way. Our children and our entire city need and deserve so much better. We need substantive gun reform and sustainable investments.”