Victim of West Philly mass shooting will be charged with murder

A 28-year-old man who was injured in the mass shooting in West Philadelphia over the weekend is expected to be charged with multiple counts of murder, aggravated assault, and related crimes, police said Tuesday.

Tahir Shoatz was one of nine people shot early Sunday morning on the 1200 block of North Alden Street, where more than 100 people had gathered for a cookout in the Carroll Park section of the city, police said. The shooting, described by police as a “gun battle,” erupted after a group of men got into a fight, and then multiple people drew weapons.

Three men died: Akil Jones, 33; Rashie Jones, 29; and Sakayi Robinson, 23. The Joneses were brothers, police said.

Police said Shoatz, of Belmont, was one of at least three people who opened fire on the block. He was shot four times during the incident, police said, and will now be charged with three counts of murder, five counts of aggravated assault, and related crimes.

The five additional surviving victims range in age from 26 to 30, police said.

Shoatz remained hospitalized Tuesday morning, officials said. He is expected to be charged once released.

The violence in Carroll Park, a relatively quiet section of West Philly, is the seventh shooting incident in which five or more people were shot this year.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, gathered with city and law enforcement officials at the scene on Monday, urged residents to apply for block party permits for large gatherings so police can plan accordingly. The city, though, has denied permits in the past for parties in certain areas that they said had a heightened risk of violence.

At one point during the news conference, a resident of the block asked officials why police had not noticed the crowd growing on Alden Street during their patrol and intervened earlier.

Parker said there had been only one 911 call to the block that night — after the shooting had happened.

As of Monday night, 148 people had died in homicides in Philadelphia so far this year — a 38% reduction compared with the same time last year and a more than 50% drop compared with 2021, the peak of the city’s violence crisis.

The rate of shootings in the city this year is at levels not seen since 2015. And yet, the number of shootings with multiple victims remains troublingly high, particularly as violence continues to erupt at outdoor parties.