Family identifies teen girl killed in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park shooting that injured at least four others
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A teenage girl is dead and at least four other people are injured after a shooting Friday night in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, police said.
Officers were stationed around 11 p.m. near the corner of 33rd Street and Ridge Avenue in the city's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood after hearing of "pop-up parties of juveniles and young adults" in the area, Inspector D F Pace said.
The family of Isya Stanley identified their 17-year-old daughter as the teen who was shot and killed. Isya Stanley was killed just days after her June 10 graduation from Freire Charter High School.
Her father, Aself Stanley, described his daughter as a multi-talented young woman.
"She played basketball, she had her own clothing line, she was a young entrepreneur," Aself Stanley said. He said Isya had planned on attending Morgan State University in the fall to study business. She would've turned 18 on August 20.
Police were breaking up a crowd that was on 29th Street and moving toward Fairmount Park when officers heard gunshots coming from the 2400 block of Greenland Drive in the park. Officers then found two gunshot victims in the park and rushed them to Temple University Hospital.
Police said Temple University Hospital treated four victims connected to this shooting, including Isya Stanley. She was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after 11 p.m.
Police released more information on the ages and conditions of the four other victims Saturday afternoon. All are in stable condition.
- An 18-year-old girl, who was shot once in the right leg
- A 14-year-old boy who was shot in the abdomen
- A 15-year-old boy who was shot in the left leg
- A 15-year-old boy shot in the left leg
Another victim was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.
After the shots were fired, the kids ran in different directions and at least one victim stopped at a nearby gas station for help, Pace said. Police are still investigating what sparked the initial gathering, as well as the motive for the shooting.
"We do not know what spurred the shooting, what motivated it if any of these victims were targeted," Pace said. "It's too early in the investigation."
Investigators had found 11 shell casings at the scene at the time Pace spoke.
"Officers were on location here...we were certainly aware that on warm evenings such as this, young people are likely to congregate. And we know for the most part, generally, where they tend to congregate. And we're doing the best we can proactively to keep them safe and to enforce curfew regulations," Pace added.
On Saturday, Philadelphia Police said they still didn't have any updates. Stanley Crawford, the president and CEO of Black Male Community Council of Philadelphia, said hearing the news of the teen violence and death brought personal pain.
"We as a family know what it is to have a loved one murdered," Crawford said.
Crawford's son, William, was shot and killed in September 2018. Months later, Crawford founded the Black Male Community Council of Philadelphia, which works with young men who have been charged with crimes. From Crawford's perspective, it takes the entire community to keep teens off the streets.
"We as adults, we as the government, and we as organizations need to come together and see the totality of what we could do to help our young children," Crawford said.
He adds that Philadelphia Police need to hold people accountable to keep more shootings from taking place.
"If they don't pick up their ability to solve these murders, they're leaving these murderers and shooters amongst us who influence other ones that it's OK to do it because I did it, and I got away with it," Crawford said.
City Council in 2022 passed a bill requiring anyone 17 years old and under to be home by 10 p.m. if they are not with a parent or heading home from work.
Police have not found a weapon at the scene and have not made any arrests. They're asking anyone with information on the shooting to call the Homicide Detectives Division at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip at 215-686-TIPS.
