1 killed in shooting at playground in Southwest Philly: police

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Police Department is investigating a fatal shooting they say occurred in Southwest Philly Monday night. 

This is a developing story. 

What we know:

Before 9:00 p.m. on Monday night, reports came in of a shooting near 57th and Grays Avenue. 

Police say they found a young male suffering multiple gunshot wounds at Deritis Playground. 

He was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m.

According to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, the shooting was caught on police real-time crime cameras. 

Police say the shooter snuck up very closely behind the victim and fired multiple gunshots from point-blank range. 

Police sources tell FOX 29's Steve Keeley that according to footage of the crime, there were no other children or witnesses at the playground during the time of the shooting. 

Because the victim did not have any form of identification on his person, officers used a fingerprint scanner to try to identify him.

Philadelphia police later identified the man fatally shot at DeRitis Playground in Southwest Philadelphia as Anthony Jerome Sharpe Jr. of Smyrna, Delaware.

Law enforcement sources tell FOX 29’s Kelly Rule that he is from the community and often comes back to visit friends. Sources say he was in the park for about 10 to 15 minutes, at one point on the phone, before he was ambushed by a person that was completely covered up.

What they're saying:

"This is a very well-kept playground," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. "Not a place for guns and definitely not a place for a homicide." 

Gina Hobbs lives in the community and could not help but think of her nephew, who was killed just down the street on Grays Avenue back in 2022.

"I bring my kids, my grandkids around here, walk around here but it’s sad, it’s really sad, and it hurts, it really hurts, our black kids, boys, boys especially are getting just, I don’t understand it," she says.

Kevin Rosa, who works with the Youth Violence Reduction Initiative with the School District of Philadelphia, says he came to the neighborhood early Tuesday morning to make sure one of his students wasn’t involved.

"I hear a lot of kids saying over and over those days of riding bikes, those days of just going to a playground, are over, you don’t want to get caught at a playground just sitting there because you become, you could become a target easily," he says.

Back in May 2021, Quamir Mitchell, 16, was killed near the playground, just two weeks before high school graduation. It happened as $380,000 worth of improvements to the park were underway.

Back at the park Tuesday, Council President Kenyatta Johnson, police chaplains, and anti-violence leaders held a prayer circle and went door-to-door in the community.

"We had cameras put here, we had lighting put here, we want to partner with the neighbors so they can be vigilant and paying attention and being our eyes and ears," says Johnson. "We must keep our foot on the gas when it comes to addressing senseless gun violence in the city, numbers are down, but we can’t rest when we’re at our lowest, now we have to step up our efforts even more."