Authorities say gunfire killed three people and injured at least 11 others late Saturday night in a popular downtown Philadelphia nightlife district.
During a news conference, Police Inspector D. F. Pace claimed that police were monitoring the area on South Street in downtown Philadelphia when they heard many gunshots and saw several suspects firing into a huge crowd just before midnight.
According to Pace, an officer fired a shot at one of the criminals from about 30 feet (9 meters) away, although it is unclear whether the individual was struck.
“It’s easy to imagine hundreds of people just enjoying South Street like they do every Saturday when this tragedy occurred,” Pace added.
According to him, two males and a lady were murdered in the incident. Authorities did not make their names public. Three of the ten patients who arrived at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital were dead, six were in stable condition, and one had been discharged, according to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital spokeswoman Damien Woods.
Police claimed they found two firearms, one of which had an extended magazine. There have been no arrests.
With various clubs, restaurants, and businesses, South Street is recognized for its entertainment venues and nightlife. WTXF-TV broadcasted surveillance video from a neighborhood shop that showed dozens of people loitering about on the sidewalks and on the street before abruptly fleeing en masse as gunfire erupted.
Later in the day, police anticipate being able to collect “a lot of video security footage” from the several shops along the street to try to identify suspects, according to Pace.
The shooting, according to Mayor Jim Kenney, was “beyond heartbreaking.”
“We see lives senselessly killed and those injured in yet another horrible, brazen, and despicable act of gun violence,” he said in a statement released early Sunday. “My thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends, and loved ones of those who have died or been injured, as well as everyone else who has been affected by this awful event.”
The rise in gun violence in the city and around the country, Kenney added, “makes me not only heartbroken but enraged.” Without efforts to address the “availability and ease of access to firearms,” he warned, battling it would be “an uphill battle.”
The situation was “chaos,” according to Eric Walsh, who was closing an outdoor sitting area of a tavern down the block for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He claimed to have seen a young woman collapse on the corner.
“There were blood splatters on white sneakers, skinned knees, and skinned elbows,” Walsh recalled. “All we were doing was balling up napkins, soaking them, and passing them out to folks.”
