PHILADELPHIA (Washington Insider Magazine) – Several active gunmen started firing at a busy junction in Philadelphia’s South Street entertainment district late Saturday, killing 3 people and injuring at least 11 others, authorities said. It was one of a number of mass shootings that unfolded around the nation during the weekend.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that monitors gun violence, the Philadelphia killing was one of at least 5 across the country involving 4 or more victims in a violent 27-hour timespan, including in which 3 individuals were killed at a graduation party in Socorro, Texas, another one that left 3 individuals dead and 11 wounded in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and yet another in which a 14-year-old girl was killed and 8 people were wounded at a strip mall in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 5 shootings resulted in the deaths of nine persons and the injuries of 37 others.
According to ABC NEWS, the shooting in Philadelphia began just before midnight near the bustling junction of Third and South streets.
Hundreds of individuals were milling about the site when the gunfire triggered a panic and drove individuals racing in all directions, some scrambling under vehicles for shelter, according to Philadelphia Police Department Inspector D.F. Pace.
At a media conference on Sunday afternoon, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that a law enforcement officer responding to gunfire in the vicinity saw a guy firing a weapon into a crowd and tried to arrest him. According to Outlaw, the policeman fired three shots at the armed suspect before losing him in the crowd.
Authorities believe the official shot the attacker, who is still on the run, according to Outlaw.
There have been no arrests made. Security footage is being examined by officials in the hopes of identifying the attackers and establishing a reason for the shooting.
According to Outlaw, the shooting may have begun during a violent altercation between two individuals, one of whom was killed in the attack.
The identities of the 3 victims, a 22-year-old male, a 34-year-old man, and a 27-year-old woman, were not immediately revealed. According to Outlaw, 2 of the dead victims, as well as several injured, were innocent bystanders.
Kris Miners, a resident advisor at Girard College in Philadelphia, was among those killed, according to the Girard College Federation of Teachers. The Philadelphia Police Department identified 2 more victims as 27-year-old Alexis Quinn and 34-year-old Gregory Jackson on Sunday afternoon.
According to officials, two weapons were discovered from the site, one of which had an extended magazine. Authorities claimed they gathered bullet casings from at least 5 different caliber firearms at the scene.
Seven of the injured victims were transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, overwhelming the emergency unit staff and leading 911 dispatchers to direct first responders to 2 other nearby hospitals to transport more victims.
According to Outlaw, the injured individuals range in age from 17 to 69 years old, with conditions ranging from critical to stable.
The shooting occurred only days after a violent Memorial Day weekend in Philadelphia, during which more than 40 individuals were shot in multiple instances throughout the city, along with a 9-year-old son and father heading home after a holiday cookout, according to police.
According to Philadelphia city police department crime figures, as of midnight Saturday, there have been 211 killings this year, 14 less than this time last year, when there had been a record 562 homicides.