Three people were killed and nine others were wounded when gunfire erupted in the midst of a gathering early Monday morning in the Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia, authorities said.
The mass shooting happened at around 1 a.m. on the 1500 block of S. Etting Street, near Dickinson Street, according to police.
Investigators said a 19-year-old man, a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old man died from their injuries. Authorities have not publicly identified them.
At least one of the other victims, a 19-year-old man, was shot twice in the head and hospitalized in critical condition, police added.
A 15-year-old girl and two 17-year-old boys were among those injured, according to the PPD. The other victims range in age from 18 to 24, officials said.
Police said a 13th person was taken to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment after they fell while running away from the scene.
Nearly 140 shots fired
Video circulating on social media, taken from a Ring doorbell camera, shows people desperately huddling for cover on front porches as shots ring out. Several individuals are shown shooting, apparently exchanging gunfire with others down the block.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel described the scene as “horrific.” Investigators recovered evidence indicating that nearly 140 shots were fired, and he said detectives believe at least one of the guns was equipped with a “switch.”
Switches, which have drawn the ire of Bethel and other city leaders, allow handguns to fire more rapidly, similar to an automatic weapon. Police said that one of the weapons used in the Memorial Day mass shooting at Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill likely had a switch.
Officers responded to the Etting Street area Saturday night into Sunday morning and made arrests in connection with an earlier pop-up event, Bethel said.
The PPD monitored the block throughout the weekend, and law enforcement had responded to reports of loud music Sunday night and earlier Monday, officials said. Officers briefly left to attend to a nearby high-priority call, and that’s when the shooting occurred, according to Bethel.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Bethel told reporters that the perpetrators were engaging in “coward, wannabe thug stuff.”
One person in custody
He initially stated that one person was taken into custody with a firearm, though their involvement in the mass shooting was not known and it is not clear if they have been charged.
Anyone with information is asked to call or text the PPD tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
Late Monday morning, cleaning crews scrubbed blood and chalk evidence markers from porches, steps and sidewalks. A tow truck removed a car with a blown-out rear windshield, one of multiple damaged vehicles.
Pat Warren, 78, a longtime Grays Ferry resident, stopped by the scene, along a narrow, one-way street hemmed in by rowhomes. While he was not necessarily surprised, Warren told Metro “it’s been very quiet” since a gang war that had raged a few years ago seemed to cool down.
Holiday weekend marred by violence
About 90 minutes after the Etting Street shooting, four men between the ages of 18 and 22 were shot on the 6100 block of Vine Street in West Philadelphia, authorities said. The PPD did not provide information on their conditions, and no arrests were reported.
Two days earlier, eight people were shot when a knife fight escalated on the balcony of a bar at 11th Street and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia.
In all, six people died and 40 others were injured in 19 separate shootings over the Independence Day weekend, including early Monday morning, Bethel said.
“July 4th holidays – both in Philadelphia and across this country, particularly in our urban centers – have been very challenging,” he added, during a news conference Monday afternoon.
Mass shootings around Fourth of July have become something of a norm in Philadelphia.
Last year, one man was killed and eight other people were wounded when shots were fired in a crowd on the night of July 4 on Salford Street in Kingsessing. In 2023, a shooting, also in Kingsessing, left five people dead and five others hospitalized in the two days leading up to the holiday.
This year, homicides are down nearly 10% and the number of shooting victims has dropped about 8%, compared to the same date in 2024. The declines follow a three-year period of decreases in gun violence.
“We will not go back to the times where we had 560-plus homicides,” Bethel insisted, referring to murder data from 2021. “That is not happening.”
Counseling, peer support, and victim advocacy services are available for victims, family members, and others affected by gun violence. Go to metrophiladelphia.com/gun-violence-resources for more information.
