Seven people were shot, two of them fatally, after gunfire erupted on a North Philadelphia block on Tuesday evening. The deadly shooting occurred on the 3200 block of Fairhill Street near Allegheny Avenue just after 8:30 p.m., police said.
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The victims of the shooting ranged in age from 19 to 30 years old. After responding to the scene, police transported the victims to Temple University, where two of them were pronounced dead. As of Wednesday morning, police have not identified the names of the victims or suspects involved in the shootout.
Police recovered several firearms – including four handguns and a shotgun – as well as narcotics at the scene of the shooting. A motive had not been officially determined as of early Wednesday morning, according to 6 ABC.
Authorities said more than 70 shots were fired during the course of the gun battle, as evidenced by a number of spent shell casings found on the ground following the incident.
After spiking during the pandemic, violent crime has been on the decline in Philadelphia this year. In 2023 thus far, the city has seen a 23% year-over-year decrease in homicides and a 11% decrease in aggravated assaults conducted with handguns, according to the most recent data from the Philadelphia Police Department.
There have been a total of 2,888 shooting incidents across Philadelphia in 2023 so far – 22% fewer shootings than the city saw by this point in 2022.