Shot 16 times, man walks into Temple University Hospital

A 27-year-old man was shot 16 times in North Philadelphia, then walked into the emergency room at Temple University Hospital early Friday, police said.

The man, who police have not identified, was in critical but stable condition Friday afternoon, police spokesperson Eric McLaurin said. No one had been arrested.

Police say the victim was shot around 12:30 a.m. on the 1700 block of Tilghman Street, nearly two miles from the hospital. He took five shots to his right side, two to his left hip, three to his upper chest, one to his right shoulder, one to the right side of his neck, and four to his forearms.

It was not clear whether he walked to the hospital or was transported there.

One resident near the scene of the shooting said he had been in bed when he heard rapid-fire gunshots just after 12:15 a.m. He laid flat on the mattress until it stopped, he said.

“It was a machine-gun sound,” said the man, who asked not to be identified out of fear of retribution. “It sounded like on TV. I mean, it was loud as hell.”

Then he heard a man screaming, followed by the sound of a car speeding away, he said. After a few minutes he got up and looked out the window, and saw police arriving and scanning the ground with flashlights.

Officers found 23 shell casings on the corner of Tilghman and Palethorp Street, but no weapon, police said. About 15 minutes later, they received a call from Temple hospital about a man with 16 gunshot wounds in the ER.

Police will be checking the numerous surveillance cameras near the crime scene for any footage of the shooting.

Residents of the area, which is just outside of the Fishtown neighborhood, said the streets there are normally quiet. The corner where the shooting took place is somewhat isolated by warehouses and a vacant lot, but people don’t congregate there, they said.

The corner is across the street from several construction projects, and around the corner from newly built townhouses. There are two craft liquor distilleries and a few restaurants within a five-block radius.

“This is an up-and-coming area,” said one woman who lives down the street from the shooting scene. “We’re having so many people moving in, it’s good for the neighborhood.”

Like her neighbor, she did not want to be identified in the event that the shooter returned.

“We’d rather stay safe,” she said. “You just don’t know.”