PHILADELPHIA — Gunfire killed three people and wounded at least 11 others in a popular downtown Philadelphia entertainment district late Saturday night, authorities said.
Officers were on patrol in the South Street area of downtown Philadelphia when police heard several gunshots. They also saw several suspects shooting into a crowd right before midnight. Police Inspector D. F. Pace stated during a press conference.
Pace reported that an officer opened fire on one of the suspects about thirty feet (9 meters) away. It is not known if the suspect was actually hit.
“You can imagine there were hundreds of individuals just enjoying South Street, as they do every single weekend, when this shooting broke out,” Pace said.
According to him, the shooting resulted in two deaths: a man and a woman. Authorities have not released their names. It is not known what the conditions are of those wounded in gunfire.
According to police, two handguns with extended magazines were found. There have not been any arrests.
South Street is famous for its bars and restaurants, as well as the night life. WTXF TV captured surveillance footage from a local company that revealed scores of people mingling on sidewalks, and who suddenly fled in masse when the gunfire began.
Pace said police expect to be able to gather “a lot of video surveillance footage” from the many businesses along the street later in the day to try to identify suspects.
Eric Walsh, closing up the outdoor seating area of a bar along the block, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the scene was “chaos.” He said he saw a young woman collapse to the ground on the corner.
“People were coming off the street with blood splatters on white sneakers and skinned knees and skinned elbows,” Walsh said. “We literally just were balling up napkins and wetting them and handing them to people.”
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