September 17, 2023
THOM CARROLL/for PhillyVoice
Five people were killed and two more were injured in six different shootings throughout the city of Philadelphia on Saturday.
Five people were killed by gunfire across the city of Philadelphia on Saturday. Two others were injured in shootings during the course of what proved to be an unusually violent 24-hour period for the city.
The string of shootings began just after 1:00 a.m. Saturday, when a 37-year-old man was listed in stable condition at Einstein Medical Center after reportedly being shot in the hand. No other details about that shooting were released as of Sunday morning.
Another man was shot just before 7:00 a.m., this time fatally. The 54-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene on the 100 block of Herman Street after having been shot in the chest, police said.
Over the next six hours, three more people died in different shootings across the city, according to multiple news reports. A 33-year-old man was pronounced dead after reportedly being shot in the neck at Cleveland and Cumberland Streets in North Philadelphia. About 30 minutes later, police found a 45-year-old woman unresponsive in the living room of an East Germantown home with a gunshot wound to the chest. Police have not ruled out the possibility that these two shootings could be related, according to CBS News Philadelphia.
Another man was pronounced dead at the hospital just before 1:00 p.m. after reportedly being shot multiple times on the 7300 block of North 19th Street, in the Nicetown-Tioga section of North Philadelphia.
In another incident, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the leg on the 100 block of W. Logan Street in Germantown. He was in stable condition at Temple University Hospital, authorities said.
Finally, a man was killed at North Broad and West Chew Streets in the Fern Rock section of North Philadelphia around 11:45 p.m. on Saturday, according to NBC Philadelphia. The man, who police believed to be in his 20s, was found laying on the street after being shot four times.
As of Sunday morning, police had not identified any suspect names or descriptions, nor were any of the victims identified. No weapons were recovered from the scene of any of the shootings.
After hitting an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic, violent crime in Philadelphia has been declining year-over-year, according to police department statistics. Through Sept. 10, violent crime offenses were down 7.2% compared to the same period last year. Shootings in particular decreased 22.5%, while homicides were down 25.4%.
