Temple police issue alert showing suspected gunman who fired during gathering of young people

Temple University police Sunday issued a campus alert showing a photo of the suspect believed to have fired two gunshots during a large gathering of young people near campus Saturday evening.

Just before 6 p.m., police were attempting to disperse a crowd of more than 500 young people near Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue when officers heard a gunshot a block away, near Park Avenue, said Jennifer Griffin, Temple’s chief for public safety.

Minutes later, police heard a second gunshot nearby. No one was injured, Griffin said, and police were able to clear the area within an hour.

“Through examination of our camera footage and citizen videos, we believe one person fired a handgun into the air during both incidents,” Griffin said in a statement, asking for the public’s help in identifying the unnamed suspect.

Temple freshman Mallika Khurana said in an interview Saturday that the shots occurred near two student dormitories.

Khurana, 18, a legal studies major who watched the scene unfold from a student lounge, said a large group of youths, many appearing to be no older than 9, had filled both Broad and Cecil B. Moore, extending north on Broad to in front of the Liacouras Center, around 4:30 p.m.

Police were present, Khurana said, and intervened when small fights broke out. Khurana said fights moved into the nearby SEPTA station.

“These kids clearly were here to create drama,” Khurana said, adding she saw accounts on Snapchat of some of them harassing workers in nearby businesses, and her friends witnessed one jumping an Uber driver and trying to steal his car.

Around 5 p.m., dirt bike and ATV riders rode through the area, stopping traffic and adding to the chaos, Khurana said.

Less than an hour later, shots rang out.

Griffin said that both Temple police and the Philadelphia Police Department had deployed officers to Broad and Cecil B. Moore in advance of the large crowds. Temple reached out to Philly police earlier in the week, Griffin said, after becoming aware of a social media post noting a large “meet-up” planned for Saturday near campus. Cameras monitored the growing crowds, she said.

At first, the crowds were orderly, Griffin said. Police began to disperse them once several fights broke out.

An initial TUalert notifying students to avoid the area was issued at 5:23 p.m. Khurana said cops flooded Broad Street after the gunshots, scattering the crowds.

“The group of 500 kids became 100 within a second,” Khurana said.

Both Temple and Philadelphia police detectives are working to identify the gunman, Griffin said. As of Sunday morning, seven children between the ages of 13 and 16 had been cited for disorderly conduct, she said.

In a separate incident early Sunday morning about five blocks from Temple’s campus, three teenagers were shot outside a party in a home near 19th and Diamond Streets, police said. Around 1:30 a.m., police found the victims — an 18-year-old shot in his arm, a 17-year-old with graze wounds to her head and arm, and a 15-year-old with a graze wound to her head. The 17-year-old remains in critical condition, while the other victims are stable, police said.

Police did not release any information about the suspect.