Man watching TV at home hit by stray bullet in Philadelphia triple shooting: police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police said a man watching TV with his family in a North Philadelphia home ended up in the hospital Monday night after he was struck by a stray bullet from a shooting outside.
The 21-year-old man was one of three people injured when shots were fired on Feb. 26 along the 2700 block of West Montgomery Avenue.
The man's neighbor, William Keitt, told CBS News Philadelphia he jumped out of his bed and immediately dropped to the floor as gunfire erupted just outside his apartment Monday night.
"It scared me when the first two shots went off. It scared the daylights out of me because it didn't sound like no fireworks. So, I knew right then it was gunshots," Keitt said.
Officers arrived at the scene around 9:30 p.m. and found two people who had been shot, including a 25-year-old man who had been shot in the arm and leg, and the 21-year-old police are describing as an innocent bystander.
"A bullet went through the aluminum siding and then went into the living room, and struck this 21-year-old who was sitting on the couch with family members, watching television," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said at the scene. "So he clearly was struck by stray gunfire that went into his house, through the wall."
"Sometimes you're not safe at home. These days you're not safe even being home. I used to worry about being out, but you don't have to be out now to get shot. You can be in your house and get shot," Keitt said.
Keitt also said he's tired of the senseless gun violence in the neighborhood.
"But I hope they put them guns down, man. They don't realize that they are hurting so many people. You kill one or shoot one, but that hurts the whole family," Keitt said.
Officials said the two victims were taken to Jefferson Einstein Hospital and placed in stable condition.
Small said a third victim, a 28-year-old man, later showed up at Temple University Hospital with gunshot wounds in his leg and mouth. He was placed in critical condition but is expected to survive.
More than two dozen shell casings were found in two different areas near the scene. Police are not sure if this incident was a shootout between two groups or if one group of shooters was firing from two different locations.
Investigators are still searching for a motive and no arrests have been made.
