In yet another mass shooting which have become a regular affair in the USA, three people were killed and 11 others were injured in Philadelphia on the night of June 4 (US time), 2022.
As per reports, unidentified attackers went on a shooting spree at the intersection of 3rd and South Street where a large crowd had gathered. Reportedly, there were multiple who opened fired on the crowd using automatic weapons, which are easily available in US stores. Later, two guns were recovered from the crime scene. One of the guns was dropped by a shooter, and it was equipped with “an extended magazine”.
No arrests have been made till now, and police are looking for surveillance footage to try to identify the shooters.
While speaking about the matter, Police Inspector D. F. Pace remarked, “You can imagine there were hundreds of individuals just enjoying South Street, as they do every single weekend when this shooting broke out.”
“Patrolling officers heard numerous gunshots go off and rushed to the area, where they saw several active shooters firing into the crowd”, the police officer said.
*Alert* Emergency personnel are responding to a shooting incident in the area of 3rd and South Streets. Several people have been injured. Please avoid the area.
— Philadelphia Police (@PhillyPolice) June 5, 2022
A 23-year-old man named Joe Smith, who was standing just 10 feet from the crime scene, informed, “Once it started I didn’t think it was going to stop. There was guttural screaming. I just heard screams.” The eyewitness reportedly recalled the recent mass shootings that took place in Uvalde and Buffalo.
Reportedly, a police officer shot at a suspect three times although it remains unknown whether the suspect was hit. According to the spokesperson of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 7 injured people were admitted to the hospital.
Saturday night in Philadelphia. A mass shooting on 4th & South Street with reports of nearly a dozen people shot. I’m on scene where police have cordoned off the popular weekend strip, a trail of what appears to be blood snaking along the sidewalk in front of a Rita’s Water Ice. pic.twitter.com/mkUoTvgy2I
— Max M. Marin (@MaxMMarin) June 5, 2022
The official said that 4 victims were in a stable state while one victim was declared dead on arrival. 5 other victims were admitted to the Pennsylvania Hospital while three others were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
The deceased included a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman. Fortunately, the doctors were able to save the unborn child of the deceased woman.
Filled with restaurants, bars, galleries and other places, South Street is a popular destination where thousands of people gather everyday. As it was a weekend, the crowd was much more when the shooting happened.
Texas school shooting
On May 24 this year, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde city of Texas in the United States. The killings came on the day when students were preparing to start their summer break.
The shooter reportedly abandoned his vehicle and entered the school with a handgun and assault rifle. The teenager had shot his own grandmother before going on a killing spree at the school.
The gunman was neutralised by the police officers, the officials said, adding 3 more adults were also killed in the attack. The CCTV footage showed that small groups of children were being rescued through parked cars and yellow buses, even some holding hands as police escorted them from the school.
More than 500 students, mostly Hispanic and economically disadvantaged, study at Robb Elementary school from second through fourth grade. The attack on the Texas school is one of the deadliest attacks since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed.
