Residents voice concerns about spate of Philadelphia shootings involving teens, car thefts
PHILADELPHIA - Concerns about gun violence are mounting for residents in two Philadelphia neighborhoods where police say teens were injured in shootings that involved attempted car thefts.
Carlian Burns lives near the intersection of 24th Street and Ridge Avenue where police say a 16-year-old old and an 18-year-old were shot during a suspected car theft Friday morning.
"It’s wild because something is always happening," Burns said.
Both shooting victims were found by police and taken to Temple University Hospital where the 18-year-old who suffered multiple gunshot wounds was placed in critical condition.
MORE LOCAL HEADLINES
- Man, 28, charged in pair of Philadelphia stabbings that happened days apart
- Philadelphia man sentenced to 10 years for making illegal 'M-1000 style' explosive devices
- Jayana Webb to stand trial in death of Pennsylvania State Troopers, pedestrian: DA
Hours earlier, police in Philadelphia's Tacony section said a shootout erupted in broad daylight when the owner of a Toyota sedan caught two teens attempting to steal the car.
An 18-year-old was shot multiple times in the exchange of gunfire with the vehicle's owner, who police say is licensed to carry a firearm and is cooperating with the investigation.
The second suspect who was inside the driver's seat when the gunfight erupted managed to drive the stolen car about a block before he crashed and fled on foot, according to police.
"I feel like we're living in the Wild, Wild, West right now, with no laws and no honor," Sherron Weeks said.
She's experienced the violence plaguing North Philadelphia first-hand, telling FOX 29's Eddie Kadhim that she was attacked in her neighborhood over a month ago.
"They're hurting us around here, I just got stabbed in my head and my arm by a woman who took my coat right there on 23rd and Ridge," Weeks said.
Rita Henderson from the Philadelphia Anti-Drug Anti Violence Network was in the embattled neighborhood Friday handing out fliers that called for an end to the bloodshed.
"We are not in front of the gun violence," Henderson said. "We’re coming after the fact, unfortunately, it has to start from the top, there has to be laws to protect the resident in the area."
No arrests have been reported in either shooting.