Mom carrying infant is shot
S. Philly gunfire hits her shoulder, nicks 2nd woman; baby OK
It could have been worse. Much worse.
A young mother who had an infant strapped to her chest and a toddler nestled in a stroller in front of her was shot and wounded on a busy street corner in South Philadelphia yesterday afternoon.
Another bullet grazed the back of the head of a woman who was standing a few feet away, police said.
Neither was seriously injured. Clearly, though, they had been inches, maybe centimeters, away from something far more tragic.
"It was a miracle," an investigator said last night. "Absolutely a miracle."
Divine luck aside, here's what was known for certain: Both women were shot next to the Sun King House take-out store at 20th Street and Snyder Avenue about 4 p.m., said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
The shooting unfolded in a neighborhood that's long been accustomed to the sound of random gunfire interrupting otherwise quiet afternoons.
The mother, 27, whose name was not released, was struck in the right shoulder. Neither her 2-month-old boy, in a baby carrier on her chest, nor her little girl in the stroller was harmed, Vanore said. The name of the other woman, 24, was also not released.
Both women, Vanore said, were admitted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
The gunman drove up in a green car, got out and fired four shots as he stood at 20th and Mercy streets, half a block north of where the women were standing. The shooter got back in the car and sped off.
The motive was unknown. Whether either woman was an intended target was also unclear, Vanore said.
Several residents appeared weary at the mere mention of the shooting.
"People have to live their lives in fear around here," said Darryl Hollis, 54, who leaned against a railing on 20th Street as he stared at the crime scene.
"Bullets don't have no names on them. Anyone can get shot," he said.
"The people shooting at each other, they have no concern for other people."
On nearby Mercy Street, a woman who was sweeping in front of her house and who asked not to be named sighed when asked about the shooting.
"The cops are here all the time. It doesn't faze us any more," she said.
"I'll be watching over my shoulder if I go up that way."