A spate of gun violence across the city claimed the lives of seven people and injured 18 over the weekend, making it one of the deadliest stretches of crime in decades, Philadelphia Police Department officials said Monday.
The violence â which included a quintuple shooting, two triple shootings, and three double shootings â pushed the cityâs homicide count as of Monday morning to 185 victims, more than 30% higher than at this time last year, according to department data.
âYou all know it was a pretty horrific weekend. We had a lot of violence. Detectives are working around the clock,â Chief Inspector Frank Vanore, head of the Investigations Bureau, said during an afternoon news conference at police headquarters. âIâve been working here over 31 years. Iâve seen a lot of violence. This is more violence than Iâve ever seen. . So weâre very concerned. We need people to put down the guns.â
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Philadelphia police Inspector Ben Naish talks about the difficulty of identifying the suspects involved in the mass shooting at Olney Transportation Center during an update for reporters at Mathematics, Civics, & Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia, 447 North Broad Street. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Philadelphia law enforcement is asking the public to come forward with any information that could lead to the arrest of those who opened fire and injured eight people at Broad Street and Olney Avenue.
The victims of the SEPTA Olney Transportation shooting, which took place shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, are 17 to 70 years old. Of the eight, only one remains hospitalized, according to authorities. Police said it’s unclear if any of the victims were targeted specifically.
Updated on October 28, 2020 at 12:20 pm
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A day after Philadelphia Police fatally shot a knife-wielding man in West Philadelphia, protests continued in the city as leaders prepared for more unrest from the incident and ahead of the presidential election.
Protesters gathered in West Philadelphia around 7 p.m. Tuesday and marched to the 18th District police headquarters. Also Tuesday night, the lawyer for the family of Walter Wallace Jr. said the family had called for an ambulance, not police, to get him help with a mental health crisis.
Later Tuesday night, some of the protesters threw rocks, water bottles and other items at responding police officers.