A barrage of gunfire erupted in Philadelphia overnight, wounding five people who had been standing on a street corner and another man who was in bed asleep when a stray bullet pierced a window and hit him in the leg.
Six male victims ranging in age from 18 to 26 were taken to Einstein Medical Center, where five were reported in stable condition. A 23-year-old who was shot in the chest was in critical condition, according to CBSN Philly.
As of Friday morning, no suspects had been taken into custody, but authorities were reviewing surveillance and questioning witnesses.
“We are working very hard to find out the reasons for this, but what we do know is that we do have group-on-group violence in various parts of the city that’s plaguing us right now. That’s more than likely the reason for this particular situation,” Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Melvin Singleton told CBSN.
The shootings happened just before midnight in the city’s East Germantown neighborhood in the 700 block of East Chelten Avenue.
Officers were reportedly in the area when they heard gunfire and rushed to the scene, finding five men lying in the street amid more than 30 spent shell casings. Police soon learned that a 49-year-old man had also been hit in a second-floor apartment, CBSN reported.
One officer helped four victims into his patrol car and transported them to the hospital.
“We know that we have group-on-group violence on this particular block, in this particular area,” Singleton said.
A day earlier, four teenagers were shot, two of them fatally, in an ambush in South Philadelphia, where more than 20 shots were fired by two or more gunmen.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told NBC10 the violence left her “at a loss for words.”
“Each and every time, it appears as though our victims are getting younger and younger,” she said. “It’s very difficult to wrap our head around.”
At least 306 people have been slain so far this year in Philadelphia, a 32% increase from last year and the highest total since at least 2007, NBC10 reported.
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