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Heartbroken parents remember children killed in South Street shooting

Published  June 7, 2022 11:16pm EDT
Philadelphia
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Heartbroken parents remember children killed in South Street shooting

FOX 29's Dave Kinchen spoke to the families of two victims who lost their lives in the South Street mass shooting.

PHILADELPHIA - The heartbroken mother of a woman killed in the mass shooting on South Street said she felt unsettled hours before she heard about what happened to her daughter.

"I wasn’t feeling right, I was feeling kind of strange," Tina Quinn said. "It was like a Mother’s Intuition or something, I was feeling weird."

Her daughter, 27-year-old Alexis Quinn, was fatally shot when investigators believe a fight between three men escalated to a shooting. Kristopher Minners, 22, was also killed in the barrage of bullets that injured 11 others. 

"I just wish that day never happened you know? Like it never took place," Quinn said. "My baby would have still been here, she would have changed her mind and say she didn’t want to go out, and that day never happened."

Despite early reports, investigators say the police SUV that transported Alexis Quinn to the hospital was not stymied by a large crowd. A police squad car blocks away from where Alexis was picked up was slowed by a crowd, according to police.

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Two suspects, Quran Garner and Rashaan Vereen, have been arrested in connection to the shooting and face several charges each. Authorities shared photos and video of a third suspect who law enforcement sources tell FOX 29 may have fired a .40 caliber weapon that killed Quinn.

Authorities believe the deadly mass shooting happened when a fist fight between three men erupted in gunfire. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said that two of the combatants, Gregory Jackson and Micah Towns, were both licensed to carry. 

Officials believe Jackson fired the first shot that critically wounded Towns, who returned fire and killed Jackson. The third man in the fracas, identified as a friend of Jackson's named Rashaan Vereen, was later taken into custody at his home in South Philadelphia. 

Kristopher Minners, was identified as one of the victims by a local teachers union. Alexis Quinn, seen here in a photo posted on social media, was later identified by police.

Amid the chaos, authorities said Garner - believed to be a friend of Towns' - fired towards the brawl. According to investigators, Garner was armed with a ghost gun equipped with an extended magazine and pointed the weapon at approaching officers. 

Police shot Garner in the hand which caused him to drop the gun and flee the scene, according to authorities. It's believed that he ran to the scene of an unrelated shooting blocks away where he told officers that he was shot on South Street. 

As Philadelphia police work to retool their patrols on South Street and local leaders call for meaningful legislative changes, family members of the victims are grappling with the reality of life without their loved one. 

"My true heart, my best friend, it's very hard," Kristopher Minners' father said at a balloon release at Girard College. "Just like Kristopher, we had an emblem of life that love is the key."