A 41-year-old man was shot three times early Friday while standing with his wife near Margaret Street and Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia's Frankford section, after a silver SUV pulled alongside them and someone inside opened fire without warning. He was hospitalized in stable condition, and police say he has no idea why anyone would want to hurt him.
Gunfire From a Passing SUV
According to NBC10 Philadelphia, the shooting occurred just before 1:30 a.m. Friday, though 6abc reported the time as just after 1:30 a.m. on the 1600 block of Margaret Street — accounts differ slightly on the exact minute. Philadelphia Police Department Chief Inspector Scott Small said a silver SUV pulled up near the couple and its passenger-side window rolled down before a gunman fired three shots at the victim and his wife. The vehicle then fled east along Margaret Street, per the NBC10 report.
First responders found the victim shot twice in the legs and once in the foot, and he was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. 6abc's separate account similarly described the injuries as one gunshot wound to the foot and two to the leg. Investigators recovered three spent shell casings at the scene, according to the seed facts relayed through NBC10's reporting.
No Words Exchanged, Victim Says
The victim is cooperating with police and told investigators the gunman fired without saying a word. Small said the man reported no argument and no words exchanged before the shooting started. 6abc's reporting echoed that account, noting the victim said he had not exchanged any words with the people in the SUV and could not think of a reason anyone would want to hurt him.
Philadelphia police are working to determine the motive for the shooting, and the investigation remains ongoing. Investigators believe nearby surveillance cameras may have captured the incident, according to Small, though it has not been confirmed what, if anything, that footage shows.
Part of a String of Frankford Shootings
The attack comes as gun violence has rattled the Frankford section in recent weeks. On Oct. 12, a 28-year-old man was shot six times — twice in the head and four times in the back — on the 4800 block of Oxford Avenue and left in critical condition, according to the Northeast Times. Police said surveillance video in that case showed the shooter chase the victim and fire at close range; the victim was undergoing surgery after being shot.
Separately, officers responding to a shooting on the 4800 block of Jackson Street found a 62-year-old man shot in the arm and face who died at the scene; a second man told police the victim had pointed a gun at him first, and no charges had been filed at the time of that report, per 6abc. Another Frankford shooting left a 15-year-old boy critically wounded after he was shot in the back on the 2300 block of Margaret Street, with investigators believing the violence stemmed from an altercation involving another juvenile. No arrests had been made in that case either, according to 6abc's earlier coverage.
