Baby dies after pregnant woman shot in West Oak Lane

WEST OAK LANE (WPVI) -- Police are looking for two suspects after a shooting in West Oak Lane that left a pregnant woman and a man wounded and claimed the life of the woman's unborn child.

It happened after 10:00 p.m. Monday in the 7300 block of Thouron Avenue.

Police say the 32-year-old woman, who was 16 weeks pregnant, was shot in the back and taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center.

She was admitted in critical condition and immediately taken into surgery.

Police tell Action News that the woman's unborn child did not survive.

The male victim was shot in both legs and is listed in stable condition at Einstein.

When asked about the relationship between the two victims, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said, "Preliminary information is that the 46-year-old male who was shot in the legs is the boyfriend and the father of the unborn baby that died."

Police believe the victims were standing outside of a running Dodge SUV when they were shot.

Investigators found four shell casings from a large caliber weapon at the scene.

Witnesses told police they heard an argument before the shots were fired, and then saw two men flee.

Some thought it was fireworks going off.

Resident Rosa Lee Smith said, "If I knew it was gunshots I would gone out of the front room and gone into the bathroom or hallway."

"There's going to be a whole lot of people grieving because when something like this happens it doesn't just happen to one person. It happens to the family members to the neighborhood, to the friends and everything," added resident Caroline Mallory.

So far, there are no arrests.

Police are searching for surveillance cameras to see if there are any that can provide a description of the suspects.