Bystander killed in shooting in Kensington, police said

Philadelphia police are searching for the man they say fired the shot that killed a woman in her 20s early Tuesday morning, at least the second shooting on that block in a week and the latest incident in which a bystander was killed.

People on the 2700 block of Kensington Avenue flagged police down around 12:30 a.m., police said. When officers arrived they found the woman lying on the street with gunshot wounds to her chest and back.

The woman was taken to Temple University Hospital and pronounced dead at 12:42 a.m., police said. Police did not immediately identify the victim, pending notification of her family.

An altercation outside the Steak N Beer deli on Kensington Avenue led to the shooting, said Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. One of the men involved left the area and returned with a gun, he said, firing at least one shot that struck the woman. Police do not believe the woman was involved in the altercation and was a bystander, he said.

Police continue to investigate and search for the suspect, who they said was wearing a blue sweatshirt. They are also searching for surveillance video of the incident. One shell casing was recovered from the scene. No weapon was recovered.

On Tuesday morning, the Steak N Beer deli and liquor store was closed, the front gates rolled down. A small memorial for the victim had been placed in front of the store and a chalk circle marking where a shell casing had fallen could be seen steps away on the sidewalk.

Two people bringing items from the store into a car parked outside refused to speak to a reporter.

Across the street at Sunshine House, a community outreach center, local residents filtered in and out. Rosalind “Roz” Pichardo, a longtime Kensington activist who opened the center through her nonprofit Operation Save Our City, said she was not there at the time of the shooting, but heard about it in the morning.

“It’s heart-wrenching,” she said.

Along with a pastor, Pichardo went to place the memorial for the woman who was killed, holding a moment of prayer, she said. Gun violence is all too present, she said, and part of everyday life for Kensington residents.

“I know a lot about gun violence. I know what happens in the aftermath,” said Pichardo. “My community is dealing with this on a day-to-day basis. It’s difficult because it takes a lot to heal an already broken community.”

Less than half a mile away from Tuesday’s shooting, another woman police say was a bystander was also killed recently. And last week, on the same block, two people were shot.

In late August, KellyAnne Kane was killed during a shooting, also in Kensington, police said.

Police said Jacquan Williams and another person got into a fight on the 2500 block of Kensington Avenue, when a third person tried to intervene. When Williams fired at the person who tried to break up the fight, police said, he shot Kane, 41, in the arm. Police described Kane as an unintended target.

The injury was severe, and Kane was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital later that morning. Williams turned himself into police on Sept. 20, police said.

And last week, on the same block of Kensington Avenue, a 34-year-old man and a 30-year-old man were both injured in a shooting, police said. At around 3:12 p.m. Oct. 1, the 34-year-old man was shot in the right leg and the 30-year-old was shot in the back.

Both were taken to Temple University Hospital and were listed in critical condition at the time. The circumstances of the shooting were not released and no motive has been determined, police said Tuesday. No arrests have been made.

When the afternoon shooting happened, Pichardo, who hosts gun violence prevention and Stop The Bleed courses through her nonprofit, jumped into action and helped apply a tourniquet to one of the victim’s legs, she said.

Pichardo said she hoped more resources would be directed toward helping the gun violence crisis in her neighborhood.

“We have to deal with the aftermath,” said Pichardo. “We don’t get to go home.”

Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call the Philadelphia Police Department’s Shooting Investigations Group at 215-686-8270 or to call or text the department’s tipline at 215-686-8477.