Minutes after the music from Strawberry Mansion High School’s commencement died down today, a fight between two cliques broke out and an 18-year-old graduate was shot in the back.
The shooting happened just after 4:15 p.m. down Broad Street from Temple University’s Liacouras Center, where Strawberry Mansion’s graduation ceremony was held. Amin and Kathy Caldwell said their son, who suffered a fractured rib and a bruised lung, was alert and doing fine. He was even laughing.
The couple said their son was a bystander when the shots were fired. The brawl and ensuing gunplay began not long after students, clutching diplomas and taking photos, spilled onto Broad after the ceremony ended about 4 p.m.
(Remind you Broad street is the biggest and busiest street in Philadelphia, They have also said there was Temple Police in sight)
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Two people are dead and three others in critical condition in separate shootings across Philadelphia overnight, police said this morning.
Since just after 7:30 p.m. last night (May 16, 2008) there have been seven shooting incidents in the city and in Overbrook an woman was stabbed numerous times. Three people were hospitalized but stable after other violent incidents overnight.
At 7:30 p.m., a 43-year-old man was shot several times in the area of 54th Street and Chester Avenue in Kingsessing. He was listed in critical condition at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania.
At 10:21 p.m., a 19-year-old man was shot in the chest in the 2900 block of Tulip Street in Kensington. He was listed in critical condition at Temple University Hospital.
At 10:56 p.m., a 17-year-old boy was shot in the right hip and leg in the area of Sixth and Moore Streets in South Philadelphia.
At 10:57 p.m., a 24-year-old woman suffered stab wounds in her face, arms and legs in the 1100 block of North 63d Street in Overbrook.
At 12:30 a.m., a home invasion suspect was shot in the leg by police in the 1200 block of South 24th Street in South Philadelphia.
At 1:54 a.m., a 24-year-old man was shot multiple times in the back in the 1600 block of South 21st Street in Point Breeze. He was transported to Hahnemann University Hospital and pronounced dead at 2:26 a.m.
At 5:35 a.m., a 20-year-old man was shot in the head inside a residence in the 1600 block of Ringgold Street in South Philadelphia. He was listed as critical at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lets not forget Philly is the same place where a cop was killed a little over a month ago. And his alleged killers were beaten down Rodney King style on camera. Philly is the same city that has more murders then days last year. The same city where Marvin Harrison had his gun incident in. I work with kids and yesterday a 4th grader brought in a BB Gun to school and was arrested and he was suppose to graduate today from his elementary school.
I mean when will this stop? Why does the news on philly.com always have to be about shootings and murders? No matter of fact why does the headline have to read multiple shootings all within minutes and hours of one another?
This is the city I live in. The city where gun shots at night around the corner make you happy it wasnt on the block you were on. The city where the news at night reports shootings like espn reports baseball scores. Its til the point they dont have reporters report from the scene no more because there arent enough news reporters to go to every shooting scene in the city.
© 2008, @BWyche. All rights reserved.
