Teen killed and woman injured in North Philadelphia shooting

Thursday, June 21, 2018
NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A teenager was killed and a woman was injured when gunfire rang out Wednesday afternoon in North Philadelphia.

Surveillance video captured residents running from rapid gunfire at 26th and Somerset streets Wednesday afternoon.

Around 2:30 p.m., police say a gunman reportedly on foot fired 15 rounds at an 18-year-old boy on a bike, hitting him at least twice in the chest and torso. Bullets also hit a 20-year-old woman standing nearby.

"I saw police taking her to the car to take her to the hospital," said one neighbor. "It's real sad."

Detectives placed evidence markers where the 18-year-old drew his last breaths, while loved ones wept behind a maze of yellow crime scene tape.

"It appears he may have been the intended target since he was hit two times; the female may have been hit by stray gunfire," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.

Police said as of Tuesday there have been nine homicide victims between the ages of 13 and 19 this year.

"The summer hasn't even begun and there are lives, innocent lives, taken and it's just getting younger and younger by the day," said Rosalind Pichardo of Operation Save our City.

And as it gets warmer, community activists worry the violence on teens will only ramp up.

"It will get worse, it will get worse if we don't focus on where these teens are going for the summer," said Pichardo. "Do we have recreation centers? Do they have somewhere to go?"

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