Neighbors outraged by the shooting of a toddler in Southwest Philadelphia

SOUTHWEST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- In the Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood where a 21-month-old boy and his father were shot on Wednesday night there was outrage, especially since police are confident the shooter would have known the toddler was in the car.

"This has got to stop," said neighbor Michelle Parker. "I can't take this anymore. I feel for the family. I really do. And the baby, you don't even give him a chance. You got to give him a chance. He's still a baby."

Philip Bonner expressed disgust at the situation.

"What's society turned into?" he asked. "You know what I mean."

The gunfire erupted around 9 p.m. Wednesday evening along the 6700 block of Trinity Street.

Police believe the shooter was lying in wait and would have seen his target, a 21-year-old man putting his young son into the car.

"A gunman walks up to the car. Close range as you saw in the pictures of the car," said Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker. "The gunman walks right up to the car and fires 8 times through the driver side window."

Police said as the father accelerated forward, more shots were fired. The little boy was hit multiple times.

"This kid's hit three times with 40 caliber bullets at close range," said Walker. "All three bullets were found in his body, in his stomach."

Neighbor Charles O'Neill said he heard the shots and then ducked.

"Well, I heard the shots and I ducked. "When the shooting stopped, I looked out and all I see is a black car taking off," he said.

The father drove two blocks to the police station. The child was rushed to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in critical condition. His father was hit by 8 bullets and remains hospitalized.

"There's no doubt that the father was the intended target here, but his son was brought into this and that's just 100 percent wrong," said Walker.

Police have not pinned down the motive. They said they are following up on some leads.

So far, investigators have not recovered any surveillance video but they're still looking.

Police are confident people in the neighborhood know who the shooter is. They ask that they do the right thing and contact investigators.

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