Cops: 40 rounds fired in Point Breeze shooting that left teen dead

A 15-year-old boy whose grandmother said he "held the house together" was killed and two other people were wounded  when gunmen fired more than 40 rounds in what police said appeared to be a targeted shooting in Philadelphia's Point Breeze section.

Police said they were looking for two or three males who jumped out of a van about 7:30 p.m. Thursday on the 1200 block of South 15th Street and opened fire on the three victims on the sidewalk — two of them on bicycles.

Six bullets ripped into Trevonte Marks, wounding him fatally, police said. He lived about a block away in the 1600 block of Federal Street, and was a 10th grader at the Charter High School for Architecture and Design (CHAD) in Center City.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in one side, and a 20-year-old man was hit in a leg in the blaze of gunfire, police said. Both were reported in stable condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where Marks was pronounced dead at 8:10 p.m.

Homicide Unit Lt. Norman Davenport said investigators were reviewing surveillance video from the scene. They collected 41 spent rounds, said Davenport, adding that none of the victims appeared to have been armed.

Davenport said investigators believe the shooting was targeted, but no motive has been established.

Marks' grandmother, Monique Oberlton, said the teen was an honor roll student and was family-oriented.

She said his mother recently gave birth to another son.

"He was always there when she was in the hospital — all through this real hard labor," she said. "And Tre held the house together with his little brother and little sister."

Jacqueline Barnett, interim CEO at CHAD, said Marks was well-known at the school, had close relationships with students and staff, and liked sports.

"I didn't think that anyone thought he was a perfect student, but he showed up every day," said Barnett. "He was trying to come to school and do the right thing."

Grief counselors and other support workers were on hand at CHAD Friday, Barnett said; some students chose to leave school early to cope with the loss of their friend, but others stayed to work on a memorial that will remain at the school next week, she said.

"It's a tough loss," said Barnett.

The family had not yet made funeral arrangements.