Investigators on Wednesday night located what they believed was the SUV used by the perpetrators of the shooting outside Roxborough High School, a police source said early Thursday morning.

The SUV was found in the parking lot of the Dream Boutique Adult Entertainment Center on the 6000 block of Passyunk Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. Police were guarding the SUV into early Thursday morning as they waited for a tow truck to take the vehicle as evidence.

6ABC reported that agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were with police officers investigating the Ford Explorer.

— Elizabeth Robertson

The five shooters had been waiting in an SUV near Roxborough High School for several minutes.

Then, as teenage football players walked past and headed for locker rooms, the five jumped out of the gray Ford Explorer and began firing, unloading more than 60 shots, killing a 14-year-old boy and wounding four others.

These were among the new details offered by city officials about a crime that has devastated students, staff, and parents at several schools, and attracted calls for peace from community members, politicians, and athletes including some Eagles players.

At a news conference, officials showed surveillance video that depicted parts of the incident, however, no clearly identifying facial features of the assailants were evident.

» READ MORE: ‘It’s surreal.’ After Roxborough shootings, officials, community leaders plead for an end to gun violence

— Chris Palmer and Anthony R. Wood

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was at “a loss of words” upon hearing about the shooting at Roxborough High School on Tuesday, which left four teenagers wounded and one 14-year-old boy dead. The shooting occurred at the conclusion of a football scrimmage involving three local high schools.

Hurts became emotional while discussing his reaction to the shooting Wednesday afternoon from the team’s headquarters at the NovaCare Complex.

“It’s very sad,” Hurts said. “Kids are doing what they love in a place where it’s supposed to be safe, where we say, ‘Go chase your dreams.’ They’re out there playing football, and they don’t make it home. It’s just very unfortunate. I’m praying for the families. I pray for change.”

Earlier in the month, Hurts visited Penn Medicine’s trauma team to educate himself about the group’s responsibilities in caring for victims of gun violence. Since he arrived to Philadelphia as a second-round pick in the 2020 draft, Hurts has made multiple efforts to stay involved with social justice issues across the city.

» READ MORE: ‘I pray for change’: Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offer sympathy for teenagers involved in Roxborough shooting

— Josh Tolentino

Penn Charter football coach Tom Coyle was wrapping up the last 25 minutes of practice when he felt the ground shake and heard rumblings of multiple helicopters flying nearby on Tuesday evening.

Coyle figured there was a car accident in the area or that the response was related to the North Philly massive junkyard fire that occurred right around the evening rush hour. However, once he saw the school’s security walking toward the field, he knew something was wrong.

At 5 p.m. Coyle was made aware that there was a shooting after a football scrimmage at Roxborough High School, and among the victims were football players. He didn’t know any other details –– but immediately felt his stomach sink.

“Then a couple of administrators came out and we had a brief conversation,” said Coyle, who’s been the coach at Penn Charter since 2013. “We were kind of finishing up practice; we made a decision to continue and finish with our practice routine.

» READ MORE: For area football coaches, the tragedy at Roxborough hits home

— Isabella DiAmore, Aaron Carter and Kerith Gabriel

As a freshman at Roxborough High School, Lanay Williams was strongly considering trying out for the school’s cheerleading squad and volleyball team.

Now, she’s not sure she wants to participate in either. The reason?

“I was having if, ands or buts about doing it but it’s already been like a war zone out here, for no reason,” said Williams. “I just don’t understand it, happens all the time. Kids have beef and then they just start shooting. It’s really scary.”

Williams, 14, who waited for a SEPTA bus outside the school Wednesday said she had to leave because the trauma of being at school in the aftermath of the shooting that left 14-year-old football player Nicolas Elizalde, dead and four others injured, was too great.

Williams said she knew Elizalde, from school and “from around the neighborhood,” making the news all the more visceral.

“I cried like eight times today,” Williams said, pointing to smeared makeup on her shirt and pants. “I talked to my counselor and my art teacher about what’d happened and I just broke down. They just kept telling me to calm down, but I don’t think they understand because they didn’t know him [like] I did.”

– Kerith Gabriel

As a number of community activists gathered for a noon demonstration outside Roxborough High School on Wednesday, the mood inside was somber, according to students and staff members.

Many students had opted to stay home from school after Tuesday’s shooting.

Tonya Butler, the food services manager at Roxborough, said she’s been at the school for about six years and described the day as one of the saddest among students and faculty.

“It’s been very quiet today. There doesn’t appear to be any students here today,” said Butler, who spoke to The Inquirer just before the start of lunch. “I think this just hits too close to home. I actually haven’t seen anyone from the football team and based on some emails, [the school is] meeting with them and anyone who wants to talk.”

She paused and added:

“It’s just sad. I’ve been here for six years, this is a good school. I know so many of these young students and these athletes. Sports [are] supposed to be safe, but when something like this happens, as a mother, I’m really emotional about this. It shouldn’t happen.”

– Kerith Gabriel

As soon as Clarice Brazas heard Tuesday about the shooting by five gunmen at Roxborough High that left four students wounded and one dead, the Philadelphia teacher thought: How will I explain this to my students?

“We always tell our kids, ‘Stay in school, do an activity, play a sport. These things will help you build a better life and keep you safe,’ but it seems like we can’t keep kids safe anymore,” said Brazas, who teaches at the U School, a public school in North Philadelphia. “Every single shooting is sad and heartbreaking, but it’s not the same when it happens in a place that’s supposed to be safe.”

It was a sentiment voiced over and over, among school officials and neighborhood residents: These boys were just playing a friendly game of football. If that’s not a safe haven, what is? Can schools protect its children?

That students were shot immediately after a school-sanctioned, after-school activity keeps veteran Philadelphia principal Robin Cooper up at night. Cooper, president of the Philadelphia principals’ union, came to Roxborough Tuesday night to support administrators and help plan how to help the affected schools cope.

Going forward, there are only tough choices for school leaders, said Cooper, whose union has been speaking out against gun violence and asking for more supports for the past year.

“Do you sit on pins and needles and wait for the gunshots to start? Do you cancel the activities and say, ‘You can only come to school for reading, math, science and social studies now?” said Cooper. “Something has got to give, because we are a city under siege.”

Officials said Wednesday they had no plans to reduce or end athletic or extra-curricular activities. Deputy Police Commissioner Joel Dales said authorities had reached out to the district and would continue to focus on not just football games, as they have in the past, but also on practices and scrimmages.

Though Tuesday’s shooting was jarring, a tragedy, “it’s the kind of thing that happens over and over,” said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database and a national school-safety expert. “It’s happening in every size community, in every part of the country.”

» READ MORE: The Roxborough school shooting has educators asking: If a football scrimmage isn’t safe, what is?

— Kristen A. Graham

The Philadelphia police union, FOP Lodge #5, is adding $5,000 to the reward pool -- now totaling $45,000 -- for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest in the Roxborough High School shooting.

The city and police department earlier Wednesday announced a $40,000 reward.

— Robert Moran

On Tuesday, five high school students were shot after a football scrimmage at Roxborough High School. One has died.

Whether you are talking to children directly affected by this latest school shooting, ongoing neighborhood violence, or the death of a loved one, guiding them through this emotional thicket can be tough. You may be asking yourself:

How much should you tell children?

How do you make them feel better?

And when carrying your own emotions — plus theirs — becomes too much, is it OK to let them see you cry?

Philadelphia-area grief counselors urge parents and guardians to be honest with their children. That means candid conversations, answering their questions and being open about how we are feeling, too.

Over the years, The Inquirer has gathered advice from psychologists, grief counselors and support groups to help families navigate difficult times.

Here’s how they addressed some common questions.

» READ MORE: How to talk to kids about the Roxborough High School shooting

— Sarah Gantz and Abraham Gutman

Eagles veteran right tackle Lane Johnson became livid upon hearing about the shooting at Roxborough. Johnson’s feelings worsened after he discovered the shooting occurred at the conclusion of a local football scrimmage.

“It’s...terrible,” Johnson said Wednesday afternoon before the Eagles took the field for practice. “We’re at an age now where people are scared to get embarrassed, so they grab guns instead of finding a way to solve their issue and be useful to society. You hate to see it for the younger children across the city. My heart breaks for them.”

Johnson concluded: “Sports should offer a great outlet for us to compete. You can find out a lot about a person and their character through competing. Having that bond with those different teammates is what it’s all about. For that young boy to have that taken away from him, it’s heartbreaking.”

— Josh Tolentino

The mood was sober at Roxborough High School and Saul High Schools, where the football players shot Tuesday attended school. Students were crying; adults were crying, but doing their best to help their students process grief and fear, said LeShawna Coleman, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers staffer who represents both schools. Coleman spent hours at both schools Wednesday.

“Our teachers were showing up for kids, they were putting their emotions aside, and just trying to support them,” said Coleman.

Attendance was low at Roxborough but strong at Saul, though many Saul students “kept saying that they were afraid that someone was going to come there and do something to them,” Coleman said. “There was so much fear.”

In one Saul gym class, the teacher — who had taught Nicolas Elizalde, the 14-year-old killed by the gunfire — first talked to her students about the tragedy, then gave them space to handle their grief in the way that felt best.

Some young people drew or colored; others wanted to play volleyball. Some sat alone, listening to music, others wanted to huddle in small groups or stay near their teacher.

“It was just so sad,” said Coleman.

Staff told her that Elizalde was “a very good boy,” Coleman said. “He gave his teachers no problems whatsoever.”

– Kristen A. Graham

Philadelphia police officials on Wednesday showed video footage that captured the moments when five shooters, all of whom appear to be juveniles, opened fire on a group of Roxborough High School football players after a Tuesday afternoon scrimmage.

Nicolas Elizalde, 14, of Havertown, was killed in the attack, and Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith said he believes Elizalde was “a totally innocent victim.” Investigators believe one or more of the other victims were targeted, Smith added.

“There was possibly some altercation in the lunchroom” earlier Tuesday, Smith said, noting investigators had interviewed three of the five victims and were still looking into several possible motives.

“Do we believe it was targeted? Yes,” Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said. “Who was the target? We’re still working to determine that.”

The five shooters, one more than had previously been reported, waited near the football field for six minutes, Vanore and Smith said, until the five victims walked by the shooters’ light-colored Ford Explorer.

Then, five people exited the SUV and started firing. Four ran back to the car after the initial volley of gunfire, police said. A fifth shooter continued running down the street, shooting at the 17-year-old victim, who was not a Roxborough football player and whom Smith said he believes was targeted.

“That victim collapses on sidewalk. [The shooter] stands over top of him and continues firing,” Smith said. “The only thing that stopped this individual from firing was that apparently he had run out of bullets and the slide had locked.”

In all, police recovered more than 60 fired cartridges at the scene. They are looking for the five shooters and a sixth individual who drove the SUV.

— Erin McCarthy

Philadelphia Police and Mayor Jim Kenney on Wednesday asked Philadelphians to help investigators find the five shooters who shot and killed a 14-year-old boy and wounded four other teenagers outside Roxborough High School late Tuesday afternoon, announcing a $40,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest in the case.

The shooters fled the scene in a light-colored Ford Explorer SUV, Philadelphia Police Captain Jason Smith said.

“This violence must stop and the cowards who use these weapons must be held accountable,” Kenney said. “I know there are people out there who know who these guys are.”

Police asked anyone with information to call 215-686-8477.

— Erin McCarthy

When she got word that her son had been shot, Ashley Hunter drove to the hospital so fast that she arrived there before her son.

There, she gasped as a patrol car pulled up with a wounded teen who looked “lifeless,” she said. An ambulance arrived. When the doors opened, there was her 15-year son, shoeless, wrapped in blankets, wounded in the stomach.

“Mom,” he said. “I love you.”

“Don’t talk that way,” Hunter recalled telling him. “You’ re going to be fine.”

After surgery, her son is hospitalized, but expected to recover from Tuesday’s gunfire after a football scrimmage at Roxborough High School.

Just back from her son’s bedside on Wednesday, Hunter, 34, a SEPTA bus driver, shook her head at the shock of what had befallen her son, a ninth grader at Roxborough who loves “sports, video games, and music” and was a cornerback on the junior varsity squad. She asked that her son’s name not be published.

“It’s surreal, for sure,” she said. “I’m just so numb to it. It’s happening every day. I feel for all victims, but when it’s your own, it hits harder.”

“We’re getting out of here,” she added. “This city is getting crazy.”

By her son’s account to his mother, he was departing the 90-minute scrimmage among the squads from Roxborough, Northeast High, and Boys Latin Charter School when the shooters opened fire.

“He said he turned around and they jumped out of the car with gloves and they started shooting,” Hunter said. “He couldn’t even tell me why.”

» READ MORE: Shooting hits home for mom of victim: ‘We’re getting out of here. This city is getting crazy.’

— Craig R. McCoy

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman released a lengthy statement on the Roxborough High School shooting, Wednesday, calling it a tragedy and then using the moment to contrast his experience confronting gun violence with that of his Senate opponent Mehmet Oz.

“My heart hurts for Philadelphia. No parent, no family, no school, and no city should ever have to go through what the Roxborough High School community is going through right now,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman said such tragedies in places from North Philadelphia to Braddock have become “so painfully normalized.”

He then pivoted to politics.

He pointed to his time as mayor of Braddock and the five years in his 13-year term that the city did not have a homicide. (In the year before Fetterman took office Braddock had three).

“We need to ensure the police have the resources to do their job well,” Fetterman said. “We need to invest in initiatives to support our young people and that increase trust between cops and the communities they serve. We need to pass common sense gun safety measures.”

Oz has made crime a major part of his Senate run, aiming to depict Fetterman, and his clemency work at the Board of Pardons, as “soft on crime.”

On Wednesday, the Oz campaign announced they’d put up a billboard in Braddock of a roll of toilet paper, a fluffy dog and Fetterman. “Soft on bottoms, soft on skin, soft on crime,” the billboard reads.

“Pennsylvanians are sick and tired of soft-on-crime leaders like John Fetterman whose policies have let down our communities and allowed criminals to run rampant,” the campaign said in a statement about the billboard.

Oz has not been specific about what policies he’d support as a senator to help cities struggling with rising crime. On Monday, at an event with the Fraternal Order of Police, he said the city should increase its number of police body cameras.

Fetterman took aim at that idea in his statement saying it showed that Oz “had no clue about tackling gun violence.”

— Julia Terruso

Though Tuesday’s shooting outside Roxborough High School was jarring, a tragedy, “it’s the kind of thing that happens over and over,” said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database and a school-safety expert.

“It’s happening in every size community, in every part of the country.”

School sporting events have been particular hotspots. Last Friday night alone, there were four shootings at football games around the country — in Delaware, Minnesota, California, and Philadelphia, where shots were fired at a game between West Philadelphia and Lincoln High Schools. No one was injured in the Philadelphia shooting.

There have been 25 shootings at or after football games so far this season, Riedman said.

Deciding how to address safety at such events is a delicate balance, said Riedman.

”You need to build community, you need to build relationships, and high school football is a very important part of many communities across the country. If you decide that people are not going to come to the games, you might end up further fracturing the community,” he said.

— Kristen A. Graham

Some local activists, coaches, and other community members took to social media in the hours after the shooting to grieve yet another young life lost from gun violence.

“Everyone in Philly gotta get together and rally around our children yo. RIGHT NOW! We gotta help each other STAT,” tweeted Ursula Rucker, an activist and internationally renowned spoken word recording artist who was born and raised in Philadelphia. “It’s late! C’mon! COME. ON. EVERYONE. we don’t have to live this way hurt and scared everyday. and our YOUTH. OUR CHILDREN YO! have MERCY. please have mercy. PHILLY.”

“Football pads left laying on the sidewalk,” tweeted Jarrett Pattman, an assistant football coach at Conwell-Egan Catholic High School in Bucks County. “This is sickening. Philly, we have to do better.”

Retired longtime Pottsgrove High School football coach Rick Pennypacker tweeted the prayer emoji, adding that he was praying “for the entire Roxborough community and the families of the victims of this horrific shooting. Something must be done. Talk is cheap. Leaders of this city must do something NOW.”

— Erin McCarthy

The Roxborough shooting struck a chord with athletes, politicians, and others across the region and the country, garnering swift and emotional reaction.

Several Philadelphia Eagles expressed grief, as well as frustration about the city’s record gun violence.

Right tackle Lane Johnson tweeted Tuesday night: “It must stop! For these kids, their families, & their teammates. Sports are supposed to be a safe haven.”

Added wide receiver A.J. Brown: “This breaks my heart. My heart goes out to the kids involved and to the one that lost his life. We have to do better. We have to protect our children man.”

National gun control advocate Shannon Watts, who founded Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, tweeted the details of the shooting, adding in all capital letters: “NO OTHER PEER NATION WOULD TOLERATE CHILDREN BEING KILLED.”

Democratic U.S. Sen Bob Casey said in a statement: “My prayers are with the victims, their families and the entire Roxborough High School community. This is yet another horrible example of why we need more comprehensive gun legislation to protect our communities.”

Lt. Gov John Fetterman, a Democrat who is running for U.S. Senate, said, “My heart hurts for Philadelphia tonight. Gisele and I are devastated for the victims at Roxborough High School, their teammates, and for the families now experiencing horrific pain. ENOUGH.”

— Erin McCarthy

Police have identified the 14-year-old victim shot and killed on Wednesday as Nicolas Elizalde of Havertown.

Officials have not publicly identified the four other teens who were wounded in the shooting outside Roxborough High School. Three were hospitalized and listed in stable condition Wednesday morning, while a fifth suffered a graze wound to the right ankle, police said.

— Rob Tornoe

During an interview on Fox29 Wednesday morning, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner called Tuesday’s deadly shooting outside Roxborough High School “one of the most heartbreaking cases that we’ve seen.”

“We expect our schools to be that safe place where young people go to do things that are constructive, play football, like every one of these victims did,” Krasner said. “And when you see kids who are leaving the football field, and they’re gunned down, and they’re between 14 and 17 years of age, it’s just absolutely heartbreaking.”

Krasner didn’t offer any updates on the shooting, but he did address the increase in gun violence across the city in recent years, noting the rise is part of a nationwide trend that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when businesses and institutions were shut down.

“The lesson is that we were in a shaky position when the pandemic hit, and we should have had a lot more money into things like football, into things like public school, into the things that are necessary for prevention that are constructive,” Krasner said. “That is the path forward.”

— Rob Tornoe

Roxborough High School, Northeast High School, and Boys Latin Charter School will all open Wednesday following a deadly shooting after a football scrimmage involving all three schools late Tuesday afternoon.

Administrators gathered outside Roxborough High School yesterday in part to get ready for today.

— Rob Tornoe and Kristen A. Graham

A 14-year-old boy was killed and four other teens wounded in a shooting after a football scrimmage outside Roxborough High School late Tuesday afternoon, police said, marking the 23rd shooting death of a child this year as Philadelphia continues to face a surge in gun violence.

Just after 4:40 p.m., Roxborough High junior varsity football players had left the field and were headed to their locker-room when four shooters who’d been waiting in a car parked outside the field, jumped out and shot a volley of bullets towards the group of boys, police said.

A 14-year-old was shot in the chest. He collapsed at the bottom of the stairs that led to his locker room.

The boy was rushed by medics to Einstein Medical Center, where he died a short time later. He was a member of Roxborough’s team, but attended Saul High School, a nearby magnet school that focuses on agriculture, Philadelphia School District spokesperson Christina Clark said.

“There are no words for what transpired earlier tonight,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement Tuesday evening. “Another young life has been cut short and others injured by needless violence.”

» READ MORE: A 14-year-old boy was killed and 4 other teens wounded in a shooting after a football scrimmage at Roxborough High School

— Ellie Rushing, Kristen A. Graham, and Robert Moran

During Tuesday’s shooting, another 14-year-old boy was shot once in his left thigh, and a 15-year-old was shot in the leg. A 17-year-old was also shot in the right arm and three times in his left leg. All were rushed to Einstein and Temple Hospital, and were in stable condition Tuesday night, police said.

A fifth player suffered a graze wound, but did not require medical treatment, police said.

All the shooting victims were Roxborough players, police said.

— Ellie Rushing, Kristen A. Graham, and Robert Moran

It remains unclear what led to the shooting outside Roxborough High School, said Capt. John Walker, head of the Police Department’s nonfatal shooting unit, adding that there have been no other recent incidents involving players on these teams.

It was also unclear just how many shots were fired, but there were more than 70 evidence markers throughout the street, noting both shell casings and bullet fragments.

Including the victims of Tuesday’s shootings, 178 children have been shot in Philadelphia so far this year and 23 have died. There were 213 children shot in 2021, a year that ended with a record number of homicides.

— Ellie Rushing, Kristen A. Graham, and Robert Moran