7 victims are shot in 5 incidents, all within a 12-hour period

A total of seven people were shot in five incidents within about a 12-hour span from Monday into yesterday, police reported yesterday.

_ About 8:15 p.m. Monday, a 20-year-old man was shot three times in the back on Germantown Avenue near Cambria Street in North Philadelphia. He was admitted to Temple University Hospital.

_ At 10:45 Monday night, police were called to Temple University Hospital after a 36-year-old male stated that he had been shot on Percy Street near Luzerne in Hunting Park. The man had a wound to the abdomen and the buttocks, and was listed in critical condition, police said.

_ At 10:49 p.m. Monday, three men were wounded by gunfire on Weymouth Street near Allegheny Avenue in Kensington. Police said that a man in a hooded sweatshirt walked up to the trio and started firing. A 30-year-old man was shot in the lower abdomen, a 20-year-old man was hit in the groin and a 17-year-old youth was shot in the back. The older victims were in critical condition at Temple. The teen was listed in stable condition.

Police found shell casings from a 9mm and a .40-caliber weapon, along with some narcotics, but had not developed any suspects or motive.

_ Shortly before 2 a.m. yesterday, police were summoned to Temple by a report of a shooting victim. A 29-year-old man told them that he had been shot in the stomach near the Eagle Bar, at Germantown and Erie avenues in North Philadelphia.

He was unable to provide police with any details of the shooter.

_ At about 8:55 yesterday morning, police were called to the Westpark Apartments, on Busti Street near Holden in West Philadelphia, where a 30-year-old man was shot in the lower back by the boyfriend of a woman who lives in the housing project.

"The victim and the shooter got into a fistfight outside," said Lt. John Walker, of Southwest Detectives.

The fistfight started again inside the lobby, and that's when the shooter pulled a .38-caliber revolver from his back pocket and fired twice, striking the victim once, Walker said.

The gunman was described as a black male, 5 feet 10 inches and about 190 pounds, 25 to 30 years old and wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and a green hoodie.

The victim was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.

"It appeared it was a night that shootings were a little out of control, and we definitely don't want to see that many in a night," said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman.

Despite the rash of shootings, Vanore said, shooting victims this year are down about 17 percent.

In 2007, police said there were 1,239 shooting victims compared with 1,029 so far this year. *