Police: 15-year-old injured after being shot while walking to school near Overbrook High School
PHILADELPHIA - A Tuesday morning shooting in Overbrook left one teen injured and a high school in the area was placed on a brief lockdown, authorities say.
According to police, the shooting occurred in the area of North 61st and Jefferson streets just before 8:30 a.m.
Officials say a 15-year-old boy, who authorities later confirmed is an Overbrook High School student, was shot in the thigh.
Police transported the student to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where authorities say he was placed in stable condition.
As a result of the shooting, Overbrook High School was placed on a brief lockdown, which was lifted shortly after 9:30 a.m.
Surveillance video obtained by FOX 29 shows two Overbrook High School students walking to school just before 8:30 a.m. As they approached the intersection of North 61st and Jefferson streets, police say someone from inside a passing silver sedan opened fire, missing one of the students and wounding the 15-year-old victim, who can be seen limping down 61st Street.
The father of the 15-year-old, who asked that his identity be protected, expressed to FOX 29's Kelly Rule that he is fed up. His son is the fifth Overbrook High School student that has been shot since November and the 91st district student that has been shot since the beginning of the school year.
The teen, according to his father, just went back to in-person learning last week. His father says he pulled his son for virtual learning after four Overbrook High School students were shot after school dismissed on November 23.
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"I felt comfortable letting him go back he felt comfortable going back and then turn around today, here we go again," said the victim's father. "It’s sad, my son ain’t got nothing to do with what’s going on with anything out here and like I stay on top with him about that."
Monique Braxton, a spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia describes the boy as a good student and says it is a miracle that he survived.
The high school has a safety zone where Philadelphia police patrol during dismissal, but it only extends two or three blocks from the school.
"Children ought to be able to walk to and from their neighborhood high school safely it’s not going to be tolerated," said Braxton.
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The school district says they are working on a safe path program where people from the community are hired to help escort students from school. The district originally announced that program in the fall of 2021, but there has been no word on when it will be up and running.
"Everybody needs to stand up and be a parent to their children instead of being a friend or a sibling, like man up, woman up, be a parent to your child. Y’all know what’s going on out here," said the victim's father.
Police briefly pursued a silver sedan they believed was involved in the shooting. During the pursuit, the suspected vehicle crashed into a barricade at 52nd and Lancaster Avenue and the 24-year-old driver was arrested after trying to flee on foot.
Police later determined the driver and the vehicle were not involved in the shooting that injured a high school student. Authorities say the driver of the car is facing weapons charges.
No arrest has been made in the shooting and no weapons were recovered, according to officials.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Philadelphia Police Department.