A 17-year-old boy was shot once in the right hip while riding inside a white Hyundai Tucson on the 8000 block of Frankford Avenue in Holmesburg around 10 p.m. on Halloween night, and the gunman who fired into the vehicle remains at large. Police found the teen in the rear passenger seat with the gunshot wound before he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Philadelphia police are now asking the public to help identify the man who opened fire, according to NBC10 Philadelphia, which reported that the suspect, armed with a semiautomatic firearm, opened fire on the Hyundai Tucson after a verbal dispute and fired at least one shot into the SUV. The teen was ultimately taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, according to northeasttimes.com, which reported he was shot once in the right hip and remained in stable condition.
Accounts of exactly what prompted the gunfire differ. NBC10 Philadelphia's reporting attributes the shooting to a verbal dispute, but the Northeast Times report states that police have not said what led to the Holmesburg shooting or whether the teen was the intended target. Both versions remain on the record, with no official resolution between them.
Conflicting Details on Where Officers Were Flagged Down
The circumstances of how officers learned of the shooting also vary between accounts. The Hyundai's driver flagged down officers near Frankford Avenue and Covent Street and reported that a teen had been shot. The Northeast Times report says officers were flagged down near Frankford Avenue and Convent Lane in Torresdale, a couple of miles from where police believe the shooting happened, while 6abc reports officers were flagged down around 10:10 p.m. Saturday near Frankford Avenue and Covent Street — a discrepancy neither outlet has resolved.
Police have released a description of the suspect wanted in the shooting. He was described as a man with a beard, wearing a white baseball cap with a blue brim and a blue-and-green jacket with a blue star on the back, according to 6abc. The Northeast Times account adds further detail, describing him as a man of medium build with a beard, last seen wearing green pants and white sneakers in addition to the cap and jacket.
No Arrests Announced in the Investigation
No arrests had been announced as of Sunday night, per the same Northeast Times account. Police have urged anyone with information about the crime or the suspect to come forward and contact investigators as the search continues.
The Holmesburg shooting did not happen in isolation. It was one of 11 shootings and stabbings across Philadelphia from Saturday evening to Sunday night that left three people dead and 11 injured, five of them teenagers, according to the Northeast Times report.
Frankford and its surrounding neighborhoods have seen other teen shootings in recent months. A 15-year-old was shot in the back on the 2300 block of Margaret Street in Frankford and taken to the hospital in critical condition, with 6abc reporting that investigators believed the violence stemmed from an altercation involving another juvenile and that no arrests had been made. In a separate case in July, a 16-year-old was shot in the neck in Frankford and listed in stable condition after being taken to Temple University Hospital's Main Campus, according to the Northeast Times. A separate fatal Frankford shooting on Romain Street involved an argument and a teen who was shot in the head.
