Philadelphia authorities have offered a $20,000 reward after a deadly mass shooting in the Grays Ferry section of the city that left three people dead and 10 others injured just after midnight Monday. The shooting was caught on a Ring doorbell camera and shows people ducking for cover as gunfire erupts.
The shooting, which took place on the 1500 block of South Etting Street shortly before 1 am, took place as police were already responding to another nearby call about a large gathering and loud music.
Officers were in the vicinity when gunfire erupted and immediately moved in. They found multiple gunshot victims ranging in age from 15 to 24.
The shooting was captured on Ring surveillance video.
Among the three people shot were Zahir Wylie, 23; Jason Reese, 19; and Azir Harris, 24, all of whom died from their injuries. The victims were all from different parts of the city.
A 15-year-old girl and two 17-year-old boys were among the wounded. A 19-year-old man remains in critical condition, while other victims, aged between 18 and 24, are expected to survive. One additional person was injured while fleeing the scene but was not shot.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel condemned the shooters’ behavior.
“This is coward stuff. You see the size of this block — individuals just shooting randomly into houses, into cars,” Bethel said. “I mean, this is coward, wannabe thug stuff.” He added that it was “hard to understand” the motive behind such indiscriminate violence. “But as we do in all of our investigations, we will get to the root cause and we will bring those individuals to justice.”
At least one person armed with a weapon was taken into custody. Police have not confirmed that individual's level of involvement.
Troy Harris, father of 24-year-old victim Azir Harris, spoke to local media. “I'm broken," he told reporters at ABC 6.
Troy recounted how Azir was paralyzed in a previous shooting in 2018 while walking to get dinner with friends. “He had a big heart to be his age and he thought outside the box so much. He wanted more than just the wheelchair. He wanted more to life.”
“It was just a flashback of what happened before, but this time my boy ain't coming home. They took a piece of me. It's going to be hard to fill that space, but he always going to be here.”
The incident is the latest in a string of shootings that have plagued Philadelphia over the past few days. According to Commissioner Bethel, 46 people were shot between Friday and early Monday morning.
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