A man has been arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting Saturday night in West Philadelphia that left a 7-year-old boy in critical condition.
Officers found the child at around 7:40 p.m. with a gunshot wound to his head on the steps of a house on the 200 block of N. Simpson Street. He is being treated at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Investigators said the shooter was behind the wheel of a Chevy Silverado when he opened fire through the driver’s side window on a group of people outside.
Two men who were standing nearby pulled out guns and shot back, according to authorities. The man rear-ended an SUV, hopped out of his truck and fled the scene in the SUV, police said.
Police found the SUV abandoned at 64th and Race streets. While detectives were still on the scene, the man returned for his truck. Officers apprehended him, but police have not yet released his name.
“Although an individual has been taken into custody, that does not diminish the impact this senseless act has on the child, his family, and the entire community,” Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement.
Authorities continue to search for the other two gunmen, who fled in a maroon Ford Taurus. The vehicle was later found on the 200 block of N. 64th Street.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or dial 911.
Thirteen other people were shot, including five fatally, Friday night through early Sunday morning in Philadelphia.
In Kensington, police found large puddles of blood, multiple shell casings and a 23-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the thigh at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning on the 3100 block of Weymouth Street.
Officers rushed the victim to Temple University Hospital. Three other women, all of whom had been shot in the leg, had already been transported for medical treatment, authorities said.
A fifth woman who showed up to Jeanes Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia with multiple stab wounds told police she was also injured during the Weymouth Street altercation.
There was no word on what sparked the violence.
A 35-year-old man was fatally shot during an illegal drag racing event that attracted several hundred people Saturday night to Port Richmond.
Authorities said the man was sitting in the passenger’s seat of a BMW in the parking lot of a strip mall on the 3800 block of Aramingo Avenue at around midnight when someone pulled up alongside the car and opened fire.
The man died at the scene, and a 25-year-old man, who police believe was the driver of the BMW, arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds to his buttocks, side, right leg and spine, police said. He is in critical but stable condition.
Earlier Saturday, just after 6 p.m., officers found a 34-year-old man who had been shot multiple times in the torso and legs in the backyard of a house on the 2000 block of N. Marshall Street in North Philadelphia.
He later died at the hospital, authorities said. Police believe the man was working on his car when he was approached by the suspect, who, before the shooting, ordered him to empty his pockets.
In Fairhill, a 20-year-old man was also gunned down just after 1 p.m. Saturday on the 2700 block of N. Howard Street. Authorities provided no further details on the killing.
On Friday, four people were shot at around 9:40 p.m. on the 2500 block of Ingersoll Street in North Philadelphia, police said.
A 35-year-old woman who had been shot in the face died a short time later at Temple Hospital, according to authorities. Three men were also shot in the legs and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
In East Mount Airy, officers found a 32-year-old man sitting in the driver’s seat of an SUV with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest at 8 p.m. Friday on the 8400 block of Williams Avenue.
He later died at Einstein Medical Center, police said.
Other than the shooting in West Philadelphia, police reported no arrests in connection with any of the incidents.
