Temple University students exasperated with consistent level of gun violence so close to campus
NORTH PHILADELPHIA - Saturday morning’s fatal shooting is the second time in the last few months police have been called to the 1700 block of Cecil B. Moore for a shooting. Temple University students say it’s nothing new to them, as well.
One of the victims in the double shooting was a 22-year-old woman who graduated from Temple in May. Police say she was shot in the leg and taken to Temple University Hospital for treatment.
Sydney McNeil is a senior and says she and her friend had to be escorted to her friend’s apartment through the crime scene. "I stay on campus because of stuff like this happening. This was my first time seeing it."
Olivia Pereira just graduated from Temple and lives a block away. She says, unfortunately, it isn’t the first time she’s been randomly caught in a crime scene in the area.
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"I was walking my dog toward 18th Street and we witnessed a shooting. He’s just a little dog, so he didn’t understand. I was running and it was traumatizing. I was crying my eyes out," Pereira described her experience. "There was a time a couple of months earlier when I was coming home from dance practice with my friends and we saw a shooting at the same corner."
Mekai says he grew up around the area and heard the gunshots and people running and screaming. He’s tired of seeing young people lose their lives over nothing. "People need to stop selling guns and stuff like that. The more you sell guns, the more they gonna sell them to other people and people are going to get killed."
Police have not made any arrests in the double shooting and they haven’t found a weapon. Temple University released a statement saying they were saddened to hear about the shooting so close to campus and counseling is available for any student that would like to pursue that.