16-year-old shot inside East Mount Airy apartment while babysitting two young kids
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 16-year-old babysitter looking after two young family members was rushed to the hospital overnight after he was shot inside an East Mount Airy apartment, police said.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said officers were called to an apartment building on the 200 block of East Cliveden Street just before midnight, where they found the teenager on the first floor, shot once in the arm and once in the abdomen.
Small said officers rushed the teen to Jefferson Einstein Hospital, where he's currently in stable condition.
Small told reporters early Tuesday morning that investigators learned two young children were sleeping on the living room couch when there was a knock at the apartment door. When the 16-year-old answered, at least one male suspect walked in and fired six shots.
"We're very, very lucky that those two children, ages 5 and 7, were not struck by gunfire," Small said, "because that's where the shots were fired and there's multiple bullet holes in the living room wall, right near where these children were sleeping on the couch."
"I just heard gunshots, I woke up," Norman Ray, who lives across the street from the apartment complex, said. "I heard somebody shout and I heard a car pull off and I just sat there and waited, make sure my boys were OK."
"My boyfriend had woke me up letting me know he heard gunshots," Reagan Watkins, who lives in the apartment complex, said.
Another teenager was inside the apartment, but they were not hit by the gunfire, Small said.
As of Tuesday morning, police said they don't have a description of the suspect or suspects in this case and haven't identified a motive for the shooting.
"Fortunately, there's cameras inside of the apartment complex and the hallways and by one of the entranceways, and there's also exterior surveillance cameras," Small said. "Hopefully these cameras recorded the shooter or shooters entering and or exiting this property."
