Man Killed In Southwest Philadelphia Shooting Was Identified As High-Risk By Gun Violence Prevention Program, Sources Say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia police are investigating a Sunday afternoon shooting that left a young man dead in Southwest Philadelphia. The victim is a man who was supposed to be part of a program to protect him from gun violence.
Police sources are wondering if more could have been done to save the 20-year-old man's life.
A man named Quadir Patterson was shot and left to die in a Southwest Philadelphia alleyway on Sunday.
A day later, police sources claim Patterson had been identified as high-risk by a fairly new gun violence prevention program.
Documents show that meant factors developed by the Office of Violence Prevention's Group Violence Initiative singled out Patterson. But those police sources say despite the claim he was a candidate, he never got a call.
The motive for the deadly shooting is unknown. His killer is still out there.
Neighbors like Darren Friend shake their heads at the violence that has swept through their city, the likes of an epidemic.
"It's unfortunate that at such a young age that he was taken away," Friend said. "We need much, much stricter gun laws. I'm so afraid a kid can get a gun anywhere. This is a 20-year-old young man that was killed, who knows who killed him? It may have been a 15-year-old or a 14-year-old. Those are the things we have to deal with. And I'm afraid for the children, I'm afraid for my community, I'm afraid for my parents, I'm afraid for my own child."
Meanwhile, the city's Group Violence Initiative in 2020 had a budget of more than $500,000 to fund caseworkers' efforts to alert and pinpoint those believed to be in danger of becoming victims of gun violence.
That budget figure for 2021 is $750,000. This comes as the city grapples with surging homicide and shooting rates.
"All this gun violence that's happening is because they're not given the opportunity to be shown it's a better thing in life than being on the corner or being somewhere else," Friend said.
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department says they could not comment on whether Patterson was a candidate for the program. Doing so would have undermined the integrity of the program.
