PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Investigators are trying to figure out if a teenager hit by a bullet on Tuesday afternoon while on the back porch of her home in West Philadelphia, was the target of a shooting or hit by a stray bullet.
The 17-year-old was just steps from her back door on Media Street, just before 1 p.m., when a bullet hit her on the right side of her face. Responding officers said she then ran indoors with a wound to the right cheek.
“When they arrive, they find a 17-year-old inside the location. She’s a female, shot one time to the right side of the face,” Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said.
The girl was immediately taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she is in stable condition and is expected to physically recover.
Vanore said police they don’t know if she was a target, but they did find a cartridge casing in the alley nearby.
“Detectives are getting a search warrant for inside of the house, because a lot of our scene is inside the house.”
She was the fourth teen to be shot in the same 24-hour period, after three others had been gunned down at parties in what police believe are Airbnb properties in East Kensington and Brewerytown.
An 18-year-old was shot twice in the gut at a property on Amber Street near Susquehanna Avenue. And a 13-year-old was shot in the rear, and an 18-year-old was shot in the left leg, at a property on North 29th Street. All are expected to physically recover.
There has been a rise in the number of teens and kids shot over the last few years. According to the city, 140 people ages 18 and younger have been shot this year. Of those, 20 have died.
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