Shooting wounds 3 outside Cobbs Creek center

Three teens were shot and critically wounded inside a car parked outside the Cobbs Creek Recreation Center in West Philadelphia on Thursday night, police said.

The teens were shot inside a blue Chevrolet Impala parked on the sidewalk shortly after 8, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.

A 16-year-old was shot six times in the lower body and was taken in a police vehicle to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Walker said. A 15-year-old was shot in a hip and a 17-year-old in a leg. An ambulance took both victims to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Police said they think a fourth teen was in the car at the time of the shooting but then left the scene.

The teens had been playing basketball in the center, said Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson, who went there after the shooting was reported. There had been no recent trouble at the center, which is near Locust Street on Cobbs Creek Parkway, Slawson said.

While the victims were in the car, some girls came out of the center, and the boys tried to start a conversation with them, Walker said.

Someone in a black hoodie approached the car, leaned on it for a moment, then backed up and fired a 9mm handgun, police said witnesses had told them.

The shooter then fled, probably into the neighborhood, Walker said. Still, a police helicopter circled above, shining a searchlight on Cobbs Creek Park behind the rec center.

When police arrived, the victims were still in the car, which was riddled with bullet holes and had at least one shattered window.

Walker said it was unclear how many people were in the center during the shooting.