Philadelphia shooting: Father of victim shot during Eid event shares moving message

Father of victim in Philadelphia Eid event shooting speaks out, shares message

The father of one of the victims in Wednesday’s shooting near an Eid event in West Philadelphia spoke to FOX 29’s Chris O’Connell outside of the hospital. He shared a strong message to the people of Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA - A father is speaking out after his son was shot and injured during an Eid-al-Fitr event in West Philadelphia Wednesday.

Around 1,000 attendees gathered to celebrate the end of Ramadan before about 30 gunshots were fired, and three people were shot.

Among the three shot was a 22-year-old man who sustained a gunshot to his stomach.

His father, spoke to FOX 29’s Chris O’Connell at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center while he was there to tend to his son.

"I was angry, sad," said the father "I was woken up by my ex-wife, called me and told me that my son was shot."

The father said his son was responsive, and he tried to joke with him to keep him calm and in good spirits.

"All I have to do is say this to the city, I wish that we could all live as homo-sapien human beings and stop with the violence, us getting jealous or envious over each other…lets’s all enjoy life our freedom out here and just love and try to do better in life," said the dad.

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He continued, "at the end of the day, no one should have to go through that. Eid is a religious gathering, people should feel safe."

According to police, the 22-year-old and two more people were shot during the event near the 4700 block of Wyalusing Avenue. One of the wounded was shot by a police officer.

An officer assigned to the area engaged a 15-year-old who Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel says was armed with a gun. Sources say the 15-year-old was armed with an assault rifle. The officer shot the teen twice when police say he did not drop the gun.

The officer then put the 15-year-old into her patrol vehicle and rushed him to the hospital.

Another juvenile arrived at a nearby hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the hands.

All three shot during the incident were placed in stable condition.

Police have taken five people into custody: three men, one woman and the 15-year-old who was shot by police. Five weapons were also recovered at the scene.

Police sources say the do not believe the suspects were connected to the peaceful celebration.

The Eid-al-Fitr event was located near the Philadelphia Masjid mosque which faces a park, which is a part of the crime scene.

Najah Bey was at the celebration when the shooting broke out before she says her cousin, believed to be the 22-year-old, was shot.

She described the early portion of the day and the following chaos,

"We were just having a celebration for the Eid, something we do every year. We fast for 30 days and then we have a celebration. We were enjoying ourselves. The kids was running around, everyone was eating. And then, about 2:30, we heard shots. Everyone just started running and scattering around. You hear babies crying, people crying. People on the ground and it was crazy. And, then about a couple seconds later, another round of shots going off and people were just running and running."

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Bey then went on to say hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of people were attending the event, which began as prayer in the morning and after the morning prayer, the festivities started.

The investigation is ongoing.

Check back with FOX 29 for updates.

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