Early this morning, Philadelphia witnessed yet another instance of gun violence that claimed the life of a teenager and injured two others outside a North Philadelphia church. According to NBC Philadelphia, police responded to reports of a shooting on the 1700 block of West Huntingdon Street around 2 a.m. to discover a teen boy unresponsive with injuries to his face and head; he was pronounced dead shortly after being taken to a local hospital.
The investigation is ongoing, but FOX 29 reports that two more teens showed up at a hospital in a private vehicle—one in critical condition and the other, a 16-year-old, with a gunshot wound to the leg. Police believe the three teens knew each other, as surveillance footage showed the victim walking with two others who ran off after the shooting.
Authorities are now reviewing private and city-owned real-time crime cameras in hopes of identifying the assailants. As per a report by 6ABC, footage shows the victim walking with two males before gunshots disrupted the night, thereafter, those two individuals were seen fleeing the scene. A dark-colored sedan that took the injured teens to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children matches one seen leaving the scene of the shooting. As the community mourns the loss, the Philadelphia Police Department continues to ask for information, hoping it will help solve the case and slow the rise in gun violence across the city.
