Philadelphia shooting: 2023 updates
Philadelphia shooting: In the US city of Philadelphia, a man wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire, leaving five adults dead and two children injured.
The 40-year-old suspect in the attack was armed with an AR-15-style weapon, a handgun, a police scanner, and ammo. He is currently in arrest. The shooting appeared to be random and there is no information about him having any relation to the victims.
On Monday, police were called to the Kingsessing neighbourhood in the southwest of the city. According to Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, “when officers responded, they did identify and find some gunshot victims.”
“They also heard multiple gunshots as they were gathering the victims and getting them ready for transport to the hospital.
Officers then chased the suspect on foot while gunfire continued to ring out, damaging parked cars and littering the streets with shell casings.
Police initially said four people had been killed and were all men aged between 20 and 59. The two injured children, aged two and 13, were taken to hospital and are in a stable condition
But a fifth victim was identified early on Tuesday. A body was discovered inside a building in the same neighbourhood and the individual is believed to have died in the shooting spree.
“At this point, all we know is that this person decided to leave their home and target individuals,” Commissioner Outlaw said, adding that she had “absolutely no idea why this happened”.
“We’re canvassing the area to get as much as we can – to identify witnesses, to identify where cameras are located, and do everything we can to figure out the ‘why’ behind this happening,” she said.
Commissioner Outlaw said there could have been more victims had it not been for the officers’ actions.
Dozens of shell casings were found across a large area spanning eight blocks, which has since been cordoned off by investigators.
The suspect has not been named and police are still searching for a potential motive.
Another person was also arrested. They are believed to have acquired a gun and “returned fire in the direction of the shooter”, the commissioner said.
It is not clear whether that person has a connection to the gunman.
The attack on the eve of Independence Day came just a day after two people died and 28 were injured – about half of them children – in a shooting in Baltimore, Maryland.
Police there are still searching for multiple suspects who opened fire during an annual community gathering.
And late on Monday, a shooting in Fort Worth, Texas after a local 4 July festival left at least three people dead and eight others wounded.
In the wake of the shootings, President Joe Biden said that more had to be done “across America to address the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart”
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