7 people shot in North Philadelphia

At the end of a sweltering day, on the eve of the start of summer, a water balloon fight Wednesday evening in North Philadelphia turned into chaos after multiple shooters opened fire on a group of friends and family, injuring seven people.

The gunfire erupted at about 6:22 p.m., police said, on the 2800 block of North Bambrey Street, at the corner of West Somerset Street. Police said three men — two wearing all black and one wearing all white — pulled up to the intersection in a charcoal gray Acura TSX, got out and opened fire on a crowd of people gathered on the block of North Bambrey.

The shooters fired at least 17 shots from a semiautomatic weapon, or multiple weapons, into the crowd, which was about 50 feet away on the sidewalk, police said. The gunmen then piled back into the Acura and fled eastbound on Somerset Street toward 24th Street.

Seven people, ranging in age from 16 to 46, were injured in the shooting, police said. At least one victim was released from the hospital.

A 16-year-old girl was grazed by bullets on her abdomen and right thigh and was taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and listed in stable condition.

An 18-year-old woman was struck in the buttocks; a 19-year-old man was struck in the back; a 23-year-old man was struck in the buttocks; a 29-year-old woman was struck in her right thigh; and a 46-year-old woman was struck in her foot. All five were taken to Temple University Hospital. All were in stable condition, except for the 19-year-old man, who was listed in critical condition.

No weapons were recovered and no arrests have been made, police said. Police recovered the getaway car near Morton and East Duval Streets Thursday morning, shortly after releasing surveillance images of the vehicle.

The scene of the shooting was quiet Thursday morning, but remnants of the violence that unfolded hours earlier were still visible. A plastic trash bin was filled with discarded yellow police crime scene tape. Shards of green tinted glass from a shattered car window were strewn on the sidewalk. At least 12 chalk marks on the street and sidewalk signaled where shell casings had fallen.

Frayed pieces of latex water balloons lay next to tattered crime scene tape.

One of the shooting victims, a 34-year-old woman who asked not to be identified out of fear for her safety, returned to the scene of the shooting Thursday morning to check on her little sister, who lives on the block, she said. Wearing a sling on her left arm, where she was shot once, the woman recalled how a water balloon game with friends and family to cool off in the heat turned into bedlam.

As she was sitting on a chair with her back facing the street, the woman said, she saw a man at the corner, wearing a mask. Then, she said, she felt a stinging sensation and nearly fainted when she discovered that she had been shot.

“I didn’t realize at all until I looked down and saw the blood and then it started stinging,” she said. “I almost passed out.”

The woman, who works in nursing, said she drove herself to Temple University Hospital and was treated and released.

Wednesday’s shooting marked the second time in less than a week that multiple people were shot in a single incident in the city. On Friday, 17-year-old Isya Stanley was killed and four other teens were injured during a shooting in Fairmount Park. Police said the shooting happened near a group of around 100 juveniles.

On Thursday, as the woman who was shot in North Philadelphia sat across from the spot where she was struck, she said she remained shocked by the gunfire that rang out amid a friendly evening game. She described the shooting as “random” and said she had no idea what could have sparked the violence. Now, she is afraid to leave her home.

“It makes me not want to be outside no more,” she said. “I just don’t want to be outside at all. I just want to go to work, take care of my kids, and go home.”

Police ask that anyone with information about the shooting call the department’s shooting investigation unit at 215-686-8270 or submit tips anonymously at 215-686-8477.