UPDATE: Sept. 28, 2022
City officials gathered Wednesday with updates on Tuesday’s shooting near Roxborough High School that killed 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde and wounded four other teenagers. Police are looking for five suspects, and they are seeking the public's help.
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Original story follows
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 14-year-old student was killed and four others injured while leaving a high school scrimmage game at Roxborough High School Tuesday afternoon.
The four wounded players were transported to area hospitals. The 14-year-old, who was shot in the chest, died at the hospital around 5 p.m. Police believe he was part of a group that was targeted by at least two gunmen, who fired dozens of shots.
The wounded victims are Roxborough football players. The 14-year-old, now identified as Nicolas Elizalde of Havertown, played football at Roxborough High but attended nearby Saul High School.
The victims were walking down a side street after a football scrimmage involving Roxborough, Northeast and Boys Latin Charter schools when a light-green Ford Explorer drove up and the shooters opened fire before fleeing on foot, Deputy Police Commissioner John Stanford said.
"There is a 14-year-old that is doing what students do: football games at the end of the day," said Stanford. "One of the things we encourage our kids to do. And then for them not to make it home. ... We keep having these same conversations day in and day out.
"I don't know who's missing the conversation, but ... something has to stop. We're going to work together to figure that out. But it has to be immediate because this can't continue."
A 17-year-old was shot in the arm and leg. Another 14-year-old was shot in the left thigh. A 15-year-old was shot in the leg. A third 14-year-old suffered a graze wound to his ankle. All are in stable condition and are expected to recover.
The identities of the shooters is still unknown. Police have made no arrests.
"Obviously, we'll be looking at social media, all the investigative steps ... to determine what actually happened," Stanford added.
Students had been dismissed for the day long before the shooting occurred. It is not known how many people were in or near the school at the time.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said he was "outraged" and "shaken" by yet another act of violence against a teenager.
While he was encouraged to see a robust local and federal investigation, using cutting-edge forensics and video-gathering efforts, he added, "We all know that the answer is not just to solve this crime. The answer is that we cannot have crimes like this. They have to be prevented.
"This is just a horrifying situation at every level," he continued. "Schools are supposed to be the answer. We keep kids in schools so they don't get involved in the shooting. And what happens when we have shootings outside the schools?"
The threat of long prison sentences for violent gun crimes did not stop this shooting from happening, noted Krasner. He said a bigger investment in prevention is needed.
"We have to work not only on enforcement, but we have to work every way we can on prevention so this is not happening again. And with those two things together, we can make progress. I think the whole city is united."
A community’s worst fears
At least three of the students who were shot were taken to Einstein Medical Center in North Philadelphia. Family members quickly made their way there Tuesday evening.
"I talked to the family and they just — it's just too much," said a member of one of the students' extended families as she was coming out of the hospital. She did not want to be identified.
Another parent, whose son plays football in the School District of Philadelphia, said she is terrified for his safety. He doesn't play for Roxborough but plays against that team.
"It is really scary because, as a parent, what do you do in situations like this?" asked the mother, who preferred not to be identified. "Do you go to the games? Do they need to beef up security? What's the safety of the children?"
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Superintendent Tony Watlington, brand-new to the district, denounced the shooting as a "senseless act of violence."
"Schools have always been centers of community and will continue to be, and so it's absolutely unacceptable," Watlington said.
“Our young people [are] already traumatized by the pandemic and the effects of learning loss over the past two and a half years, and a lot of other challenges just being a young person these days. And certainly unacceptable gun violence like this is not helping anything. So we're always asking ourselves, ‘How are the children?’ And quite frankly, many of our children are not well. So, we absolutely have to believe that we can do better in our city.”
Kevin Bethel, Philadelphia schools chief of safety, said the district is setting up a trauma support team in the wake of the shooting.
"We will work as a team to make sure that we have all the support to the school, to be able to support the school leaders, the school staff, the school community," he said.
Bethel, a former Philadelphia deputy police commissioner, called the shooting a "cowardly act," noting what used to be a hand fight is now a gunfight. The problem starts on the streets, he said, and the city needs a new approach.
"When you have these many guns on our streets, this is the downstream impact of that. Everybody's got a gun. Everybody wants to use a gun," he said. "Doing the same thing over and over again is futile. And we have to be starting to move in that direction of changing how we respond."
As outrageous as the Roxborough shooting is, Bethel said, schools are still the safest place for young people in the city to be. He said the district will continue to work with the police department to keep it that way.
Effects of violence ripple through neighborhood
Chris and Karen Rouse moved to Roxborough from Fishtown in 2019. They live around the corner from the high school.
“It was always a very peaceful area,” said 58-year-old Chris. Now, he said, the neighborhood has seen a rise in crime, from catalytic converter thefts and car break-ins to drug issues and gun violence.
“This is the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said of Tuesday’s incident. “Seventy shots fired in our community, a peaceful community. It’s a disgrace.”
He blames city leadership.
“I don’t want to hear any excuses about [being] short of police,” he stressed. “We put them in office to protect us, and they have to find solutions. And I’m sure there are solutions out there.”
Karen, 69, and her senior group walk twice a week on the track at Roxborough High.
“There’s four young people wounded and one is not going home to his parents, and it’s very upsetting,” she said. “It can happen in any community. We just have to pray for a solution and get together and not be divided.”
“I walk a lot around here,” added Chris. “This is where I play basketball. But I have to start changing now. Do my exercise at home and in the gym. I’m gonna start limiting my walking too, because I could have been in the middle of this.”
Violence at a ‘safe haven’
Leaders from local and state levels of government and public figures were outraged by the tragic shooting.
As an alum of Roxborough High, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, said he felt "devastated" by the shooting and the overall issue of gun violence.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey also condemned the violence.
The shooting hit home for the sports community as well. Some Philadelphia Eagles players took to social media to share their grief about fellow football players being shot and killed just after practicing the game they love.
"This breaks my heart," AJ Brown tweeted. "My heart goes out to the kids involved and to the one that lost his life. We have to do better. We have to protect our children."
"It must stop!" tweeted Lane Johnson. "for these kids, their families, & their teammates. Sports are supposed to be a safe haven."
"Sad world we live in," said Darius Slay. "kids can’t even play sports… praying for the families."
KYW Newsradio's Nina Baratti, Hadas Kuznits, Kristen Johanson, Tim Jimenez and KYW digital staff contributed to this report.
Stay with KYW Newsradio for more on this ongoing story.
