Laron Williams Jr. was killed on his 12th birthday, struck by stray bullets in what may be a drug-related shooting

Laron Williams Jr. was killed on his 12th birthday, struck by stray bullets while crossing the street.

It was 2 p.m., and the child — just a year away from becoming a teenager — walked 50 feet from his East Germantown house to pick up lunch from the sweet woman on Crowson Street who cooks for the neighborhood children. He said goodbye to her, then walked back across the 700 block of East Locust Avenue, headed for home.

But as he did, a man armed with a rifle jumped out of a car up the block and started shooting down the street. At least 11 shots were fired. Two men, ages 47 and 30, were struck multiple times, and fell on top of one another, police said.

And Laron — known to friends and family as “L.J.” — was caught in the line of fire. He was shot in the back multiple times, police said, and collapsed at the base of the stairs of the home he’d lived in all his life. His parents held him until police arrived, and officers rushed him to Einstein Medical Center.

But his injuries were too severe. Laron died minutes later, becoming the youngest child to be killed by gun violence in Philadelphia this year.

The two men also died shortly after arriving at Einstein. Police identified them Friday as Khalif Chambers, 30, of Germantown, and Riley Darden, 47, of Norristown.

No arrests have been made.

A source with knowledge of the investigation, who was not permitted to speak publicly, said the shooting was tied to an ongoing drug feud.

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore declined to speculate on the motive amid the ongoing investigation, but he said detectives are looking into all angles, including whether drugs or an earlier incident may have triggered the shooting. He said at least one of the men may have been targeted.

But he said one thing was clear: Laron was struck by stray bullets.

Laron was a jokester with a big personality, one neighbor said, and he was well-known on his tight-knit block, where his family — loved and respected in the community — has lived since the mid-‘70s.

The Williams family, overwhelmed with grief, declined to speak about their son’s death on Friday, but asked for the city’s prayers.

Laron was a student at Mastery Charter School Pastorius-Richardson Elementary, school district officials said.

More than 100 children have been shot in Philadelphia this year, and 18 have died. Fourteen children age 12 or younger have been shot. At least seven, like Laron, were struck by stray bullets. Others were shot by accident, sometimes by other children handling unattended guns.

And while the number of shootings overall has dipped so far this year, the number of juveniles shot has remained at a startling pace — young people under 18 make up a higher portion of the city’s shooting victims than in previous years.

Children make up nearly 12% of the city’s shooting victims so far this year, a slight uptick compared to the same period in 2022 and 2021, when juveniles made up about 10% of total victims.

Overall, 205 people have died in homicides this year.

”No one should have their life and potential cut short by violence,” Mayor Jim Kenney wrote in a tweet on Thursday. ”Our communities deserve better. This senseless violence must stop.”