Five people were injured, including three teenagers.
Philadelphia police officers escaped bullets while trying to reach injured victims when multiple people opened fire with guns at a blockade Saturday night that drew up to 300 revelers, authorities said.
At least five people, including three teenagers, were injured in the shooting that broke out near a playground in the Poplar neighborhood in northern Philadelphia at 11:30 a.m., Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference early on Sunday morning.
Outlaw said police in the area were on patrol and were driving to the chaotic scene when they heard gunshots and saw what appeared to be gunshots from multiple weapons.
No officials were injured in the incident, but police said officials initially came under fire because they were trying to reach the injured. The first officers to arrive on the scene immediately called for backup, officials said.
“It’s disturbing, it’s disappointing,” Outlaw told reporters.
The victims ranged in age from 16 to 26, police said. All were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, including three who were taken to a hospital, police said.
Police found several cannonballs falling from the scene, officials said.
Outlaw said no arrests were made and asked for the help of the public in identifying the shooters.
“There were a lot of people here,” Outlaw said. “We do believe that someone knows who the shooters were and possibly could help us identify and find out exactly what happened.”
The block party’s shooting came a week after 25 people were shot dead in Philadelphia last weekend, including two 11-year-olds at a playground at the Philadelphia Zoo.
Saturday night’s shooting broke out hours after Philadelphia Mayor Ken Kenney tweeted that more than 10 people had been shot dead in Philadelphia, including four who died, in a 24-hour stretch that began on Friday. Just last week, the Philadelphia City Council held a two-day virtual emergency hearing on the uptick in shootings.
The massacre reflects an increase in gun violence in recent months in major cities across the country, including Chicago, New York City, Atlanta and Cleveland.
Before this weekend, more than 1,130 people were affected in Philadelphia this year – a 36% jump over the same period in 2019, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer. More than 260 people have died this year from gun killings in the city, an increase of 31% over the same period last year, the newspaper reported.
“Violence affects us all,” Kenney wrote. “We are prioritizing a new strategy to combat this epidemic in our city.”
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