Last updated on July 8, 8:25 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Twelve people were shot, three of them fatally, when gunfire erupted in the Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia early Monday morning. It was the second mass shooting in the city in three days.
A large crowd had gathered at South Etting and Dickinson streets, a narrow block with row homes on either side. Just before 1 a.m., a gunfight broke out, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
“This is coward stuff. You see the size of this block. Individuals just shooting randomly into houses, into cars, children out here,” he said during a briefing at the scene.
Three young men were killed: 19-year-old Jason Reese, 23-year-old Zahir Wylie and 24-year-old Azir Harris.
Harris had been in a wheelchair since 2018, when he was shot and became paralyzed. He became an anti-gun violence advocate and used his story to help others, said his father, Troy Harris. But after getting a second chance, his life was cut short.
“Taking him away took my whole family. We living, but a piece of us is missing,” Troy Harris told NBC10. “These youths are taking it to the extreme. They think killing each other is a game. You don’t come back from it. It’s not a game. You hurt families. You destroy lives.”
Nine others, ranging in age from 15 to 24, were shot and taken to the hospital. One of them, a 19-year-old, is in critical condition. Three of the victims are juveniles: a 15-year-old girl and two 17-year-old boys.
One other person was not shot but was injured while running away from the scene.
Police did not immediately say how many shooters were involved. Investigators said at least one shooter used a switch.
Officials released doorbell camera video hoping to identify at least three of the shooters.
Suspects wanted
Bethel said police had been keeping a close eye on the neighborhood over the weekend. There was a large gathering on the same Saturday night into Sunday morning. Problems arose and arrests were made.
Right before the mass shooting happened, officers in the neighborhood responded to another incident but came back to the block when they heard gunshots.
“This is coward, wannabe thug stuff,” Bethel emphasized. “It’s hard to understand why individuals engage in this behavior, but as we do in all of our investigations, we will get to the root cause and we will bring those individuals to justice.”
Crime scene investigators spent hours on the block Monday morning. There was blood on the sidewalk and bullet holes in cars and homes. Police placed more than 140 yellow evidence markers throughout the scene.
Neighbors like “T” heard the gunshots and screams right outside his door.
“We woke up in the middle of the night and heard gunshots. Got my family and huddled in the interior of the house to make sure we wouldn’t get hit, hopefully. And you heard screaming, you heard all the commotion that you normally would,” he said. “It was just chaos, madness and mayhem.”
Police are investigating this incident on top of the others over a violent holiday weekend in Philadelphia, including a mass shooting that injured eight people at the 7 Elements nightclub in South Philadelphia early Saturday morning. Overall, 46 people were shot over the weekend; six have died.
Anyone with information about the Grays Ferry mass shooting is urged to contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip by calling or texting 215-686-TIPS. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.