PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — At least four people are dead and two are injured after separate shootings in Kensington and North Philadelphia late Friday afternoon. And one person is dead after a shooting in Germantown on Saturday.
Police say around 4:15 p.m. Friday a 23-year-old and 25-year-old were shot on the 1900 block of East Ontario Street.
The 23-year-old was shot multiple times and transported to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries just before 5 p.m.
The 25-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to his hand and is in stable condition.
According to police, one person is in custody and another is under arrest.
About two hours later, police say five suspects shot at a group of men playing basketball around 6 p.m. in North Philadelphia at the 8th and Diamond playground.
In total, three people died — Nyreese Moore, 22; Naasir Folk, 24; and Isiah Williams, 21.
They say the fourth victim, a 23-year-old, was shot in the stomach and transported to a nearby hospital. He is listed in critical condition.
Brett Bessler, who represents rec center supervisors in the AFSCME DC47 Local 2186 labor union, says the area surrounding the playground is normally a vibrant community, but he's fed up with the violence plaguing rec centers.
"It feels like we're responding to these almost every other week … we just don't know what to do, our elected officials need to do something they need to take action."
Deputy Commissioner James Kelly says they believe this was a targeted attack.
"Looks like we have multiple shooters who came off of Darion Street, went into the playground and fired eastbound … we had a bunch of young children playing on the sidewalk. Thank god none of those children were hit," he said.
Police say they are looking at surveillance video from cameras in the area to identify the shooters. No arrests have been made at this time. As of now, it is not clear if the two shootings are related.
Police also reported a shooting in East Germantown on Saturday.
They say a 27-year-old man was shot in the chest just before 2 p.m. on Belfield Avenue, right near La Salle University. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he died.
