PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A freshman at Overbrook High School is recovering after he was shot in a barrage of gunfire near the school Tuesday morning.
Police say it happened at 61st and Jefferson streets at 8:30 a.m., just a few blocks away from the school. A 15-year-old student was walking to school with another student when shots rang out.
The 15-year-old was shot in the right thigh and arm. It’s unclear whether the student was targeted, but School District of Philadelphia spokesperson Monique Braxton said it’s fortunate he wasn’t killed.
“He is lucky to be alive,” she said. “I see 32 shell casings here in West Philadelphia between Nassau and Jefferson on 61st Street. So it’s a blessing and a miracle that he’s alive.”
The student was taken to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was listed in stable condition. Braxton said Overbrook principal Dr. Khalilah Johnson stayed by the student’s side Tuesday.
“The principal is with the student now at the hospital where he’s being treated, and she’s distraught,” said Braxton. “Quite understandably, this is the fifth student this [school] year that has been hit by gunfire.”
Four Overbrook students were shot and wounded near the school on the day before Thanksgiving.
Extra counseling was made available Tuesday for students at the school. Police said no gun has been recovered and no arrests have been made in the case.
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Around 12:20 p.m., police say an officer tried to stop a Ford Taurus which was believed to match a description from the Overbrook student shooting.
Officers hospitalized after crashes stemming from shooting investigation
A pursuit then began, and police say that the officer’s vehicle struck a wall on Merion Avenue near North 51st Street. The officer was taken to a hospital and placed in critical but stable condition.
Another police car that was involved in the pursuit of the Ford Taurus struck another vehicle stopped in the intersection near the first crash scene, according to police. That officer was checked out and released from the hospital.
The Ford Taurus that police pursued hit a barricade near the corner of North 52nd Street and Lancaster Avenue, according to investigators. They said the 24-year-old driver of the vehicle then fled the scene on foot, but police took him into custody near North 51st and Jefferson streets behind a shopping center.
Police said they recovered a weapon, and the man will be charged with a violation of the Uniform Firearm Act.
Investigators said Tuesday night they did not believe the arrest and crashes did not have a connection to the shooting of the Overbrook student.