What to know about the South Street shooting: The victims, investigation, and response

Here’s the latest from The Inquirer’s coverage of Saturday’s mass shooting, as we continue to learn details on the victims, how the events transpired, officials’ response, and more.

by Patricia Madej and Felicia Gans Sobey

Updated June 9, 2022, 3:52 p.m. ET

Published June 7, 2022, 3:55 p.m. ET

A mass shooting along one of Philadelphia’s busiest corridors on Saturday left three dead, 11 wounded, and a city reeling as officials piece together how the incident unfolded.

The shooting along South Street claimed more victims than any single episode of gun violence in Philadelphia in the last seven years, and comes amid unrelenting deadly mass shootings across the nation in recent weeks, from a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, to an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Here’s a guide to The Inquirer’s coverage of Saturday’s shooting, as we continue to learn details on the victims, how the events transpired, officials’ response, and more:

What happened on South Street?

The chaotic scene on South Street appeared to begin with a violent disagreement between three men around 11:30 p.m. Saturday before a volley of gunshots hit bystanders, prosecutors said. Video shows that it started as a fistfight, until one of the men drew a handgun.

Police say Gregory “Japan” Jackson, 34, who was one of the three people killed, fired the first shot, striking another man who fired back, killing Jackson. At least two other people began firing guns into the crowds during the mayhem, authorities said, including an 18-year-old who was wounded when a responding officer returned fire.

The victims

In addition to Jackson, two other people were killed in the shooting on Saturday: Kristopher Minners, 22, and Alexis Quinn, 24. Eleven others were wounded, ranging from 17 to 69 years old.

Here’s what we know about the victims so far:

Kristopher Minners was in the midst of birthday festivities when he was fatally shot on South Street on Saturday. He’d just turned 22 the previous Thursday.
“Lexx” Quinn is remembered by her family as a loyal and loving daughter who “brought people together.” She grew up in Southwest Philadelphia and was a home health aid.
William “Rusty” Crowell, a 69-year-old man who got a graze wound on South Street, said the scene was so chaotic that he didn’t even realize he had been shot until he saw blood running down his leg.
Justin Jacobs, 20, was shot in his shoulder. He was visiting from Chester to celebrate Pride.

The latest news

The most recent updates on the South Street shooting can be found in The Inquirer’s live blog. The latest details, as of Thursday afternoon, include the charges that two teens taken into custody on Thursday are facing:

Quaadir Dukes-Hill, 18, and Nahjee Whittington, who turns 18 next week, are expected to be charged with murder after US Marshals in Richmond, Va., took them into custody on Thursday.
Gregory Jackson’s concealed carry permit was issued in 2021, officials said. But a 2020 case against him for carrying an illegal gun never made it to court.
Prosecutors say Quran Garner has been charged with firing a ghost gun into a crowd and Rashaan Vereen has been charged with attempted murder and related counts for participating in the fight.
Mayor Jim Kenney, who was out of town over the weekend at the national conference of mayors in Reno, Nev., called the shooting a “horrendous, brazen and despicable act of gun violence.”
The Inquirer’s visual journalists have visited the scene of the shooting as investigators continue their work. See photos from South Street here.

Response

Gun-control advocates, lawmakers, businesses, and others were quick to respond to the shooting — with many voicing grief, frustration, and a call for action to prevent future gun violence.

While grief is expected after such a traumatic event, some experts are concerned about prolonged grief that could get “stuck inside” those experiencing the feeling.
Gun violence advocates staged a demonstration at the scene of the shooting on Monday. Watch a video from the protest.
In Pennsylvania, a state law prohibits the city from passing gun-control measures, a reality that some advocates and local leaders say keeps their hands tied.
Business owners said there’s a climate of “lawlessness” in the city that has spurred on violence.
Philly trauma surgeons say treating multiple gunshot victims at once has become a tragically familiar occurrence. “There’s not something really special to what happened last week — this has been going on every weekend, and multiple times a week. It’s terrible,” Lars Ola Sjoholm, Temple University Hospital’s chief of trauma and surgical and critical care, told reporter Aubrey Whelan.
The Inquirer’s Editorial Board, which operates independently from the rest of the newsroom, said that “the mass shooting on South Street is a stark reminder of Philly’s thwarted efforts to tighten gun laws.”
Inquirer opinion columnist Helen Ubiñas wrote that “when it comes to gun violence, expecting change from leaders has become a distraction we can’t afford.”

Trauma and support

Gun violence can affect everyone in the community, whether they were at the scene of the shooting or not. If you’re struggling in the aftermath of the South Street shooting, here are some resources:

Crisis lines: If you are in severe emotional distress or crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or Philadelphia’s crisis hotline at 215-685-6440.
Neighborhood response: Businesses or other groups in the community that want to help people process the trauma can reach out to the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services’ Network of Neighbors trauma response program.
Checking in on one another: Therapist Jaynay C. Johnson told reporter Abraham Gutman that checking in with your friends and neighbors can maintain our sense of community through trying times.