Dirt bike riders chase, shoot teen in Passyunk Square in possible robbery attempt, police say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Police say a 17-year-old boy was chased down and shot in Philadelphia's Passyunk Square neighborhood overnight in what investigators believe might've been an attempted robbery.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said there was a language barrier with the victim, who speaks Turkish, but witnesses told officers that the teenager was on a motorized scooter when a group of up to eight people riding on four dirt bikes tried to rob him near the intersection of 10th and South streets just before 12:30 a.m.
A later update from police described the suspects as a group of six to eight men wearing masks who tried to steal the teenager's motor scooter.
When the teen tried to get away from the group on his scooter, Small said the dirt bike riders chased him about 10 blocks south to the intersection of 10th and Federal streets.
Police believe the 17-year-old was shot once in the leg at that intersection, but drove the scooter about another 100 feet before he crashed into a parked car.
Officers found the teenager at that location and rushed him to Jefferson University Hospital where he's currently in stable condition.
"But there is a language barrier," Small reiterated while speaking to reporters early Wednesday morning. "So we're not exactly certain as to what occurred. The information we're getting is from witnesses who were with this victim."
Small said a spent shell casing from a semiautomatic weapon was found at the scene, and "numerous" businesses and private properties near 10th and Federal have surveillance cameras that he hopes investigators can use to help with their investigation.