8-year-old girl, two teens wounded in separate Philadelphia shootings

An 8-year-old girl and two 16-year-olds were wounded in separate shootings Thursday in Philadelphia, police said.

Around 8:45 p.m., the 8-year-old was on the 1500 block of North 13th Street in North Philadelphia when she was grazed in the head by a stray bullet, police said.

She was rushed by police to Temple University Hospital and was expected to be transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. She was listed in stable condition.

A short time later, police found a white sedan at 13th and Rising Sun Avenue with several bullet holes, said Chief Inspector Scott Small. The 20-year-old driver walked several blocks to Temple Hospital and was listed in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his leg. He told police he was shot on the 1500 block of North 13th.

Investigators reviewed nearby surveillance video and saw a dark-colored vehicle park on the block and several people exit. When the white sedan approched, the perpetrators began shooting at the car, firing more than 40 times, Small said.

The 8-year-old girl was playing in front of her family’s house when she was wounded, Small said.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw posted a statement on Twitter condeming the shooting.

“On a beautiful fall evening in our city, a group of cowards with guns waited on a residential street to open fire on a passing car. Dozens of shots were fired. An adult male in the vehicle was struck in the leg — and so was a little 8 year old girl who was standing across the street. By the grace of God, they will recover physically. To those responsible: stop putting our resident’s — our children’s — lives at risk!,” Outlaw wrote, adding that the police “will find you, and bring you to justice.”

Shortly after 7 p.m. in South Philadelphia, a 16-year-old girl was in the courtyard of the Wilson Park Apartments on the 2200 block of South 27th Street when she was shot once in the left side, said Capt. John Walker.

The girl was transported by police to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was listed in critical condition, Walker said.

The unidentified shooter ditched his handgun in a barbeque grill and ran away, Walker said.

Just after 4:10 p.m. in North Philadelphia, a 16-year-old boy was on the 2000 block of North 22nd Street when he was shot in the back, Walker said. The teen was taken by police to Temple, where he was listed in critical condition.

Walker said a family argument erupted and the victim’s 29-year-old brother shot him. The brother remains at large.