Altercation between 2 women ends with shots fired in University City
Investigators say a woman was driving in the area when she noticed she was being followed.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An altercation between two women in a busy section of Philadelphia led to shots being fired on Wednesday.
Philadelphia police say the chaos unfolded on the 3700 block of Market Street in University City around 3:30 p.m.
"Everyone literally heard a 'pop' and we all looked up," recalled Cory Elmi, the general manager at Han Dynasty.
Elmi said the startling sound of about five gunshots stopped the lunch crowd in their tracks.
"When I came out here, cars were speeding off - two in one direction and one in the other. Multiple people are frozen in the street," Elmi said while describing the scene.
Investigators say a woman was driving in the area when she noticed she was being followed by another woman she knew through an ex-boyfriend.
Both women pulled over, and police say when they exited their cars, one of them fired a gun.
Then, the other woman's brother fired back as the altercation escalated.
Thankfully, police said no one was injured during the incident.
"There were multiple shell casings on the ground," said Elmi. "There was a BMW that had a bullet hole in its driver's side. The police closed the street off for about an hour."
As police investigated the scene, University of Pennsylvania police sent out an alert to warn Penn and Drexel students about the shooting.
"I was surprised," said Harshil Parikh, a Drexel student. "This street is generally pretty safe. For this to happen pretty close to Penn and Drexel, it's pretty scary."
"I was kind of like, 'Alright, just make sure I keep checking my surroundings and make sure I get home safe,'" added Dianne Rodier, another Drexel student.
Now, residents are hoping they don't get caught in the crossfire and crimes like this don't increase as the weather gets warmer.
"It was a very big jolt - caused some havoc around this area," said Elmi. "But now you have people saying, 'It's going to be a long summer.' I'm like, 'Yeah, it's March.'"
Police said those involved in this incident and both firearms have been accounted for. The shooting is still under investigation.
