Ron Todt, The Associated Press Posted Sunday, June 5, 2022 at 9:57 AM EDT Last Updated on Sunday, June 5, 2022 6:57 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The shooting of several gunmen killed three people and injured at least 11 people in a popular Philadelphia entertainment district on Saturday night, authorities said.
Police officers were patrolling the South Street area of downtown Philadelphia around 11:30 p.m. Saturday when they heard several gunshots. Running to the scene, they found several people with gunshot wounds lying on the sidewalk and on the street and began providing assistance, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
Another responding officer saw a man on the street corner firing a gun at a large crowd half a block away, Outlaw said. The officer pulled out his gun and fired several times, and police believe the man was beaten before dropping his gun on the sidewalk and fleeing, Outlaw said.
A police statement said the dead were Gregory Jackson, 34, Alexis Quinn, 27, and a 22-year-old man who was not identified. Investigators believe one of the three dead was involved in a “physical altercation” with another man, and the two began firing, and both were shot dead, Outlaw said.
The other two people who died and a number of injured, ranging in age from 17 to 69, were believed to be innocent bystanders, Outlaw said. He called it “a dark day” for the city when many people enjoying a beautiful evening were the victims of “horrible and unthinkable events … in a very popular local and tourist meeting place.”
“It is important that we bring justice to the victims, their families and our community,” he said.
Two pistols were recovered, including one with an extended magazine, but Chief Inspector Frank Vanore said investigators knew from evidence at the scene that a total of five weapons were involved. In addition, police are investigating several other shootings before and after, a fatality, to see if they could be related.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital spokesman Damien Woods said 10 patients came to this particular hospital; three dead, six in stable condition and one who has been discharged.
Outlaw said police planned to bolster resources Sunday night in the area, as well as in the nearby Penn’s Landing area along the Delaware River that separates Pennsylvania from New Jersey.
South Street is known for its entertainment venues and nightlife with its many bars, restaurants and businesses. The surveillance video for a local business posted by WTXF-TV showed dozens of people moving along the sidewalks and down the street, and then fleeing when the shot exploded. Police were looking for video surveillance footage of businesses in the area.
Mayor Jim Kenney called the shooting “beyond devastating.”
“Once again, we see senseless lives lost and wounded in another horrific, brazen and despicable act of armed violence,” he said in a statement on Sunday morning. “My heart is with the family, the friends, the loved ones of the lost or the wounded, and with all those affected by this terrible tragedy.”
Kenney said the rise in armed violence in the city and across the country “not only breaks my heart, it makes me angry.” He said, however, that fighting such violence would be “a difficult battle” without measures to address the “availability and ease of access to firearms.”
Eric Walsh, closing the outdoor seating area of a bar along the block, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the scene was “chaos.” He said he saw a young woman fall to the ground in the corner.
“People were coming out of the street with splashes of blood on their white shoes and their knees and elbows with skin on them,” Walsh said. “Literally we were just wrapping napkins, wetting them and handing them to people.”