Rashaan Vereen sentenced for role in fight that preceded 2022 South Street mass shooting
Three people were killed in the shooting, including one of the men who opened fire that night, and another 11 people were injured.
A West Philadelphia man was sentenced to nine to 23 months of incarceration Wednesday, followed by four years of probation for his role in a fight that preceded a mass shooting that broke out on a Saturday night on South Street in June 2022 in which three people were killed and 11 wounded.
In a January trial, Common Pleas Court Judge Diana L. Anhalt found Rashaan Vereen, 36, guilty of simple assault, conspiracy, and recklessly endangering another person. Though prosecutors argued Vereen’s actions set off the chain of events that ended in gunfire, Anhalt found Vereen not guilty of more serious attempted murder and aggravated assault charges. He never fired a gun during the incident, which occurred in one of the city’s most-popular gathering places.
» READ MORE: Survivors of South Street shooting face months of physical and emotional recovery
According to court documents, Vereen and his friend Gregory Jackson, 34, were part of a group hanging around the 200 block of South Street near Rita’s Italian Ice. Micah Towns, 23, was in another group.
Around 11:30 p.m., Vereen punched Towns in the face as he walked by. Though the parties briefly separated, Jackson and Vereen reinitiated the fight, according to court documents, with Vereen punching and throwing Towns to the ground as Jackson held a “firearm down by his side.”
As Towns remained on the ground, Jackson fired at him. Towns, who had a gun of his own, fired back. Both men had carry permits for their weapons.
The gunfire sent outdoor diners and Theatre of Living Arts post-concert lingerers scrambling.
In the chaos, Quran Garner, who police believed was with Towns before the fight and was across the street, began shooting a gun of his own, though his target was unclear — law enforcement said the gunfire exchange between Jackson and Towns had slowed at this point.
» READ MORE: South Street shooting victim Alexis Quinn remembered as a loyal, loving daughter who ‘brought people together’
As hoards of people fled in various directions seeking refuge, Qaadir Dukes-Hill, 18, and Nahjee Whittington, 17, who had no ties to the initial brawl, began to shoot indiscriminately a couple of blocks away. The bullets fatally struck bystanders Alexis Quinn, a 24-year-old home-health aid, and Kristopher Minners, a 22-year-old residential adviser at Girard College. Minners had been celebrating his birthday when the shooting erupted.
» READ MORE: Kristopher Minners, killed in the South Street shooting, was celebrating his 22nd birthday
Back on the 200 block of South Street, Vereen handed off Jackson’s firearm to another man while he began to administer aid to his friend. Jackson died of his injuries.
Vereen would go on to lie about his involvement in the fight, according to police.
Survivors of the shooting ranged in age from 17 to 69 with wide-ranging roads to recovery. Neighbors of the commercial corridor were also left shaken and calling for more police enforcement of unruly revelers in the aftermath.
Vereen had been under house arrest before the trial, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He has 30 days to turn himself in.