Surveillance video shows suspects fleeing from East Germantown shooting scene: Philadelphia police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia police have released surveillance video of two suspects in an East Germantown shooting that left one teen dead and another hospitalized Wednesday night.
Two teens were shot, including one fatally, and a stray bullet grazed a man who was driving in the area, Chief Inspector Scott Small said Wednesday.
Investigators said the two suspects are teen boys who ran from the scene. In the video, police point out a walking boot on one of the suspects.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
The shooting happened in the area of Germantown Avenue and Wister Street just after 6:30 p.m. Small said police officers were in the area when they heard several gunshots.
"I'm tired of living in fear, ya know? And I'm tired of people like the first thing they think to do is just pull a gun out," a woman living in East Germantown said. She asked to not share her name over safety concerns.
Small said officers found a 16-year-old boy, later identified as Semaj Fields by police, was who shot once in the upper back at East Wister between Germantown Avenue and Wakefield Street. He was taken to Einstein Hospital by police and pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m.
CBS News Philadelphia spoke with the 16-year-old's family off camera. They were visibly shaken from what happened – saying Fields, a high school student, loved to play basketball and rap.
A 17-year-old boy was found a block away at Wister Street and Germantown Avenue shot in the right hip. He was also taken to Einstein by police and placed in stable condition, authorities said.
Small said investigators found at least seven spent shell casings near the scene fired from two separate caliber semiautomatic weapons.
"It's hard to comprehend why teenagers that are high school age would be firing shots at each other, why they resort to deadly force at such a young age," Small said.
Small said police believe three suspects were involved in the shooting, including two who fired shots. He said surveillance video showed two groups on different sides of East Wister moments before the shooting happened.
The group of shooters fled wearing dark clothing in an eastbound direction on foot on East Wister, Small said. The shooters fired at a group of five or six people, striking two of them.
Small said the 17-year-old who was injured in the shooting is from the area where it happened. They plan to speak to him about the shooting after he's cleared at Einstein.
It's unclear what led to the shooting, Small said.
An advocate urges the community to step up
"It's painful to hear it over and over again," Dorothy Johnson-Speight, founder of Mothers in Charge, said.
For the last 21 years, she has worked tirelessly in Philadelphia's violence prevention space.
"I've never seen the violence, especially with our young people, with juveniles, like today," Johnson-Speight said. "We have to be connected to those that are closest to the problem to begin to understand or get solutions."
The most recent data from the Philadelphia Police Department show both the homicide rate and the number of shooting victims are down.
City numbers show 12% of shootings this year have involved victims under 18.
"One homicide is one too many, so while the numbers may be trending down, they're not anywhere near where they need to be," Johnson-Speight said.
The founder of Mothers in Charge asks the community to step up and speak out, including volunteering their time with violence prevention groups.
"Don't be numb. Call somebody, get involved," Johnson-Speight said. "These are our children. Maybe you didn't give birth to them, but they're all our children."
