January 15, 2025
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Noah Scurry, 17, a student at Samuel Fels High School, was shot and killed as he prepared to leave his Feltonville home for school on Tuesday morning, police say. Investigators are searching for a white Jeep Grand Cherokee linked to the shooting. No arrests have been made.
A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed outside his home in Feltonville as he was getting ready to leave for school Tuesday morning, police said.
Noah Scurry, a student at Samuel Fels High School, was stepping inside a car with his mother in the alleyway behind their house on the 500 block of Rorer Street when someone opened fire just before 7:15 a.m., NBC10 reported. He was taken to a hospital and died shortly afterward.
Philadelphia police have not made any arrests or released a motive for the shooting, but said they're searching for a white Jeep Grand Cherokee with a black front license plate, damaged sunroof and stickers on the windshield. At least 20 shell casings were found at the scene, but no weapon was recovered.
Scurry was a member of the Samuel Fels basketball team and recently had the top SAT score in his class, NBC10 reported. The school's basketball games for the remainder of the week have been canceled, and the school district's Prevention & Intervention Team Emergency Crisis Response team is on-site for students in need of counseling and support.
Samuel Fels Principal Melissa Rasper mourned Scurry's death in a letter sent to the school community.
"Ours is a tight-knit community, and I know that this is difficult news to receive even when it doesn't occur on school property," Rasper wrote. "Death is rarely something that is easy to accept, especially when it involves a young person, a classmate and particularly during these times as our city grapples with heightened gun violence."
Since the start of the year, there have been 10 homicides in the city, according to Philadelphia Police data, less than the 13 reported at the same point in 2024. In a press conference Tuesday, District Attorney Larry Krasner said two of them involved youths and took place within a 24-hour period. An 18-year-old, whose name has not been released, was fatally shot Monday night on the 6100 block of Vine Street.
