2 cousins sought after quadruple shooting leaves several teens dead in Lawncrest; victims identified
A 14-year-old eighth-grader was one of the three teens killed in the shooting.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police are looking for two cousins in connection with a quadruple shooting in the Lawncrest section on Friday that left three teenagers dead.
They are identified as 22-year-old Tyree Lennon and 15-year-old Taj Lennon. Police say both should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the Philadelphia Police Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or dial 911.
The victims killed include 18-year-old Khalif Frezghi, 17-year-old Malik Ballard and 14-year-old Salah Fleming.
A 16-year-old was also shot but survived. He remains in the hospital.
The gunfire erupted around 3:30 p.m. Friday at a home in the 5900 block of Palmetto Street.
Police revealed Monday that two groups of mostly teenagers arrived at the house a short time earlier.
"Based on the information we received, they go into a house on that block for some sort of transaction. At some point during their meeting, gunfire erupted resulting in four shooting victims," said Staff Inspector Ernest Ransom.
Shortly after the shooting, police located a black Ford Edge and arrested a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old in connection with the gunfire.
Ransom asked parents to be more involved in their children's lives as nearly everyone involved was under 18.
"The gun violence with juveniles is out of control. That goes without saying. We have to find some type of way to get the guns off the street and have some type of intervention," he said.
SCHOOL COPES WITH LOSS
Fleming was an eighth-grader at the Mathematics, Civics, and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia.
Community leaders came to the aid of that school on Monday morning.
"They're very broken and very sad because these are like your children, you see them every day," said Veronica Joyner, the school's founder.
"The teachers were telling me, in the classroom, that he was quiet, didn't get in any trouble, a good student," Joyner said.
Joyner called community leaders who showed up at the moment's notice gathering earlier than expected.
"We were already scheduled to be here on Wednesday with a group of 25 students from the school who have already lost either parents or they themselves have been shot or shot at, or have lost a sibling or loved one to gun violence," said Rev. G Lamar Stewart, pastor of Taylor Memorial Baptist Church.
Conversation at the school is shedding light on urgent needs throughout the city.
"Not just with trauma healing circles, but also with conflict resolution, also with prevention of tragedies from happening in the first place so that hurt people don't hurt people," said Dr. Ala Stanford, Regional Director of Mid-Atlantic U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
"We talk about post-traumatic stress disorder, but what we are really dealing with is continual traumatic stress disorder. It's not after a trauma, it's continual trauma over and over and over again," said Dr. Argie Allen-Wilson, co-founder of Mental Health First Connect.
The first day of mental health awareness month is now focusing on that trauma within this grieving school community.
"We stand ready to listen first to what these children need and create a safe space for them to process what they've experienced and we're not going away," said Allen-Wilson.
Joyner said there will be a continuous rotation of grief counselors at the school this week.
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