7 people, including 2-year-old and 5 teens, shot in Strawberry Mansion
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Seven people, including a 2-year-old girl and five teenagers, were shot in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion section Thursday night, police say.
The shooting happened on the 3100 block of West Norris Streets at around 6 p.m. outside the James G. Blaine School.
Philadelphia police are searching for three suspects and a vehicle wanted in connection to the shooting. Authorities say three suspects pulled up in a vehicle on the 3100 block of West Norris Street and began firing.
Police say they're looking for three Black men wanted for the shooting. All three were wearing black clothing, including one wearing a New Balance sweater.
Another suspect was wearing Under Armour sneakers and another was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.
Authorities also say they're searching for a 2011-16 gray four-door Hyundai Elantra with an unknown Pennsylvania tag.
During a press conference, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said they don't believe all the victims injured were the intended targets.
Outlaw added that typically when shootings like this happen, it could be in retaliation to another incident, but they're still looking into it.
"We're constantly working around the clock to ensure what we're doing is effective and not just throwing bodies at a situation," Outlaw said. "We want to make sure that this doesn't continue to happen."
A 2-year-old girl and her 31-year-old mother were both shot, authorities say. The 2-year-old was shot in the left thigh and placed in stable condition at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, while the mother was placed in stable condition after being shot twice in her left thigh.
A 15-year-old boy was shot two times in the chest and twice in the right side of his body, police say. He was placed in critical condition at Temple University Hospital.
Two 16-year-old boys were shot. One was shot in the left arm, while the other was hit in the right arm and left thigh, according to police. A 13-year-old boy was shot in the left hand, authorities say. A 17-year-old boy also suffered a graze wound to his left thigh. They were all placed in stable condition at local hospitals.
Police say there were about 28 shell casings on the scene.
The Philadelphia School District said the five teenagers were attending an after-school program at the Blaine School.
Jerry Jordan, the president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, released a statement about the shooting that read in part:
"Once again, the devastation of gun violence continues to traumatize our communities. It should be unfathomable that outside of one of our schools, as an event was letting out, six people--including a toddler and four teens--were shot. But of course, it is anything but unfathomable. It should horrify us all, but it should shock none of us."
The shooting follows another week of gun violence in Philadelphia.
Last weekend, Temple University police officer Chris Fitzgerald was fatally shot while pursuing robbery suspects in North Philadelphia.
Not too far from that shooting, two teenagers were shot at 19th Street and Montgomery Avenue near Fitzgerald's memorial.
On Thursday morning, a 26-year-old woman was shot and killed after an argument inside a bar in the city's Kingsessing neighborhood.
"It's been a very rough week, but quite frankly, we've been seeing a lot of challenges at least over the last three years that I've been here, unlike anything anybody has seen," Outlaw said. "Not just here in Philadelphia, but in the country, so we have to continue to be innovative, we have to ensure that we're reminding people that we are human beings and we need help. We're not going to be able to do this alone. But at the same time, we're still here to do our jobs and do what's supposed to be done."
