Philly leaders react to violence, chaos over the weekend

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia leaders are reacting after a violent weekend while folks gathered for peaceful Eid al-Fitr celebrations.

The incidents left multiple teens injured and the community concerned. 

What we know:

Philadelphia police say they responded to seven shootings over the weekend involving 13 victims, including seven teenagers.

Among the incidents was a 15-year-old boy shot in the arm around 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, in the area of Broad Street and Cecil B Moore. He is expected to physically recover.

Police say a group of juveniles surged into the area, which has become a known gathering spot for young people. 

It happened as thousands of people from across the city gathered in the Liacouras Center for Eid al-Fitr celebrations.

What they're saying:

"The vast majority of Muslims had a wonderful day," said Imam Hassan Abdi of Germantown Masjid. "It was a wonderful event generally, tens of thousands of people attending from all over the city. Any big event we hope for the best and we fear the worst."

Video being shared widely on social media showed some of the chaos after. One video appears to show responding officers pointing their tasers at people, and another video shows officers making an arrest with an individual on the ground.

"Arresting people is not pretty, people don’t just turn around and put their hands behind their backs," said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel. "We look at the video in snippets, but they don’t see the officer being punched in the face, or they don’t show some of the other activity. I’m not saying that to defend it without knowing all the totality of the facts, but I would encourage the public if anyone thought that our force was excessive, they can file a complaint."

Police say they made more than a dozen other arrests, including two for carrying guns.

Police say they are on pace to see an under 50% reduction in the number of young people killed in the city this year, as homicides across the city continue to trend down.

"We are moving in the right direction," said Commissioner Bethel. "It is working, we have to just keep pressing."

Mayor Cherelle Parker, reinforcing the progress, also says she doesn't find comfort in statistics. 

"You can have stats and data, but it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t feel safe walking to the supermarket."

Imam Abdi says he feels all adults have a responsibility in the city when it comes to young people and violence.

"The culture isn’t a good one at the moment and I think for adults, for us to put things into place to make sure that culture changes, otherwise we’re just going to be completing the cycle and it will just be another event or another place," he said

Germantown Masjid also put a post on social media asking parents or guardians of those involved in the shooting incident to contact them, so they can sit down together to work towards a positive resolution.