PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 5-year-old boy is in the hospital, and his 71-year-old grandfather is fighting for his life, after both were hit by gunfire in Southwest Philadelphia on Saturday evening. Police say they believe this was not a random shooting.
Police say they got a call about a shooting at 61st Street and Passyunk Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, shortly before 6 p.m. Responding officers found a bullet-riddled car that had come to rest against a protective barrier at a gasoline pump at the Exxon station, according to Philadelphia Police Inspector D.F. Pace.
“Upon arrival, officers discovered a white Nissan that had two occupants that had been shot,” said Philadelphia Police Inspector D.F. Pace.
The 71-year-old, who was shot in the leg, went to the hospital in extremely critical condition, and the boy went to the hospital in stable condition, Pace said, “however I do not have the information as to how many times that child was struck and where that child was struck.”
Police say the boy's father told investigators he was driving the Nissan on 61st Street, with the 5-year-old and his father in the car, when a white Kia K5 came up from behind and someone inside fired gunshots at his car. The man said he pulled into the Exxon station, and the driver of the Kia followed him, as the barrage of gunfire continued.
The Kia then fled west on Passyunk Avenue. Police say they found it later, unoccupied, in the rear of a property on the 6100 block of Buist Avenue. The Kia, with Florida tags, had been reported stolen, taken in a robbery at the Philadelphia Airport.
Pace told NBC10 they believe two men fired at the Nissan in a targeted attack.
“We have approximately 48 rounds from at least two weapons. So we know at least two shooters,” Pace said. “The vast majority of those are from what appears to be a high-powered rifle.”
Police are currently combing through surveillance video and talking with witnesses as they search for the shooters.
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“Just pulling up, seeing how many shots were actually shot, it doesn’t make any sense. Just hearing what happened is just sad,” said Harold Boswell with the Philadelphia Anti-drug Anti-violence Network.
Pace called the shooting disgusting.
“It’s always unconscionable when anyone is a victim of gun violence, all the more so when you have an innocent child,” the inspector said.
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A woman, playing with her 2-year-old son at a park nearby when the attack occurred, said she is afraid of being out past a certain time.
“Once it gets dark and things get crazy — especially because it's Saturday and they like to race up and down this road — I definitely don't want him out at night time, because you never know.”
More than 100 children have been shot in Philadelphia this year, according to data from the city’s controller office.
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