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

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.