Two arrested in South Philadelphia shootings

Police have arrested two people accused of opening fire in a South Philadelphia neighborhood and injuring three people in separate shootings Monday.

Though there were no serious injuries, two of the victims were bystanders who had small children with them when bullets started flying.

"Seven blocks apart, in a little more than a four-hour time span, three people were shot," Philadelphia Capt. Laurence Nodiff, commander of the South Detectives Division, said Thursday. "Unacceptable."

Police do not believe the shootings were related, Nodiff said.

Police arrested Sharief Durbin, 22, of the 900 block of Orianna Street, and Quadir Jeffries, 18, of the 2100 block of Bailey Terrace, on Wednesday. Both were charged with attempted murder and related offenses.

Durbin is charged with pulling up in a car and jumping out to fire more than six times near 20th Street and Snyder Avenue around 4 p.m. Monday before fleeing, Nodiff said.

The target was a man standing about a block away, Nodiff said. Instead, a 27-year-old woman carrying her 2-month-old baby and pushing her 2-year-old daughter in a stroller was hit in an arm. A 24-year-old woman standing with her was grazed in the head.

The women were treated at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and released.

"They were extremely lucky," Nodiff said.

Jeffries is charged with shooting a 16-year-old in the 2700 block of Snyder during an argument about 8:30 that night, Nodiff said. The 16-year-old was treated and released.

Detectives combed the neighborhood in search of the shooters, and investigators got a lot of help from the community, Nodiff said. When word spread that police had identified the alleged gunmen, Durbin and Jeffries turned themselves in.

"We do not take these incidents lightly," Nodiff said. "We beefed up patrols in the area, and our detectives worked day and night to take these violent individuals off the street."