Crime scene investigators continued to process the scene Tuesday night following a gun battle and confrontation with police that led to the closure of a busy intersection on North Broad Street at the height of the evening rush hour.
It all began with gunfire shortly before 6:00 p.m. Tuesday.
"911 received many calls of shots fired and of shooting victims in the 1300 block of Ruscomb Street," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
A small army of Philadelphia Police converged on the scene. Police evacuated the block and closed the intersection of Broad and Ruscomb Streets to traffic.
"Broad Street is a very heavily travelled street especially between Ruscomb and Rockland Street where we had to block it off," Small said.
Police say 24-year-old Khoeum Roeun had suffered a gunshot wound to the neck and later died at the hospital. A 23-year-old man was rushed to Einstein Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his ankle and is expected to recover.
Meantime, a number of men barricaded themselves in a home on the block. After the victims and witnesses were removed from the scene, police set up a perimeter around the property.
A Swat negotiator made contact with the people holed up in the house, and after an hour of talks the suspects surrendered without incident.
"They were able to come out of the house using little or no force by police. No one was tased. No one was injured," said Small.
Investigators moved in and found a large cache of weapons in the home, including a number of rifles and handguns.
Police found 24 spent shell casings at the scene from three different caliber weapons.
Two cars were struck. One of them was riddled with 15 bullet holes.
As of Tuesday night, police had 7 men in custody and were still questioning them. Two are believed to be the shooters.
Investigators are still working to determine what sparked the incident. Police tell Action News they suspect it is related to Cambodian gang activity in the area.
