Prosecutors say they have nearly dismantled a South Philadelphia-based street gang that allegedly victimized dozens of people through a series of shootings, carjackings and other crimes.
The District Attorney’s Office announced 11 arrests Friday, and a 12th suspect that was considered a fugitive turned himself in early Saturday after authorities distributed his name and a photograph through the media.
Collectively, the suspects were charged in connection with 13 shootings between 2021 and 2023 that left a 16-year-old boy dead and more than 25 people wounded, two carjackings and a car theft, according to the DA’s Office.
Ten of those charged are aligned with “the Senders,” investigators said, a group of young men accused of engaging in retaliatory violence. The gang’s motto: “If you want to join the Senders, get a body, then you gang with us,” according to Assistant DA Adam Faraye. ‘Getting a body’ refers to the act of killing someone.
“The Senders are not quite gone, but they’re close,” DA Larry Krasner said at Friday’s news conference. “They’re very close.”
Most of the violence occurred between 5th and 9th streets from Snyder to Oregon avenues; however, incidents connected to the Senders, and their feuds with other groups, were reported as far away as Lawncrest and Germantown.
Taahir Rowe, 20, is facing murder charges for the January 2022 ambush shooting of 16-year-old Mehki Ingram on the 800 block of June Street in West Philadelphia’s Mill Creek neighborhood. Ingram died after several days in the hospital.
One of the other suspects, 19-year-old Eli Simmons, is being accused of participating in 10 shootings that left 16 people injured over the span of about 16 months in 2022 and 2023. Faraye said Simmons was being detained on $12.5 million bail.
Prosecutors said that, as part of the gang feud, three gunmen opened fire in February 2023 on a group of teenagers gathered on the 3100 block of Norris Street in Strawberry Mansion. The gunfire struck a mother and her 2-year-old daughter as they crossed the street, and five teens were injured.
Other outbursts involving the Senders included three separate South Philadelphia triple shootings in January 2022 on the 700 block of Ritner Street; in April 2023 at 22nd and Wolf streets; and in May 2023 on the 600 block of Oregon Avenue, authorities said.
Elante Outerbridge, 17, is charged with nine counts of attempted murder in relation to the seven-victim incident and a shooting several months earlier in Southwest Philadelphia, according to the DA’s Office.
He is among the youngest defendants included in the bust, having been just 15 years old at the time of the two shootings. Most of the suspects were under 18 at the height of the gang warfare.
“A lot of these young kids think it’s a game,” said PPD Detective Kelley Gallagher, who worked on the case. “On social media, they compare it to a basketball game. And how that works is, for every shooting victim, they say they have a point.”
