Police identify 15-year-old Simon Gratz student killed in shooting

Gratz shooting
A 15-year-old student at Mastery’s Simon Gratz High School was fatally shot Tuesday morning.
Jack Tomczuk

Authorities on Wednesday identified the teenager killed on his way to Mastery Charter’s Simon Gratz High School earlier this week as 15-year-old Devin Weeden.

The motive in the shooting, which occurred just after 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, was robbery, police also said Wednesday.

Weeden, a 10th grader who lived in West Philadelphia, was involved in an altercation with three young men dressed in black before one of the suspects pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest, investigators told reporters in the aftermath of the killing. He succumbed to his injuries a short time later.

The homicide occurred at 16th Street and Hunting Park Avenue, just a couple of blocks away from Gratz’s Nicetown campus. Classes were canceled Wednesday for a “day of healing,” and grief counselors were available at the school, Mastery officials said.

School will resume Thursday, with additional staff present for student arrival and dismissal, according to a spokesperson for the charter school network.

No one has been arrested in connection with the shooting.