17-year-old shot and killed near his South Philadelphia home

A 17-year-old was shot and killed steps away from his home in South Philadelphia on Thursday night in what police said appears to have been a targeted attack.

Isaiah Odom was shot and killed on the 1200 block of South 23rd Street, down the block from his Titan Street home Thursday night, police said. Odom had gone out on his bike to get something to eat, his mother, Rachel Turner, said, when he was shot multiple times by two gunmen.

Around 8:33 p.m., police responded to a report of a person with a gun near the 1200 block of South 23rd Street, police said. When officers arrived, they found Odom lying on the street with multiple gunshot wounds.

The two gunmen fired at least 20 rounds in the shooting, which appeared to have been targeted, said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. At the scene Friday afternoon, at least nine chalk marks where shell casings fell could be seen on the street and sidewalk.

A Philadelphia police detective told Turner that video footage showed her son riding his bike when a gray sedan pulled up and shots were fired. Two shooters were seen getting out of the car and chasing Odom on foot, she said.

Police said witnesses said they saw Odom running in the street, with the two gunmen following and shooting in his direction.

At one point in the video footage, the shooters were seen standing over Odom and shooting him at point-blank range, said Turner.

Odom was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was pronounced dead minutes later. No arrests had been made and no weapon had been recovered.

“I just think it’s all pointless. It’s gotta stop,” Turner, 38, said Friday in front of her home. “This gotta stop. It gotta stop. They can’t keep killing these kids like this.”

Odom was not involved with gangs and did not get into trouble, his mother said But he had recently gotten into a fight at South Philadelphia High School, she said, and someone later threatened him and said he wanted his “getback.”

Fearing for her son’s safety, Turner said she pulled him out of school and notified the school board. She said she told Odom and her 16-year-old son to stay inside the house to be safe. Odom was set to go to orientation for his new school, One Bright Ray Community High School, soon.

Odom loved music, Turner said. An aspiring rapper, he played drums at the family’s church, Emmanuel’s Temple of Deliverance, and would look out for his siblings, walking them to the park when they wanted to go out to play.

And he’d always check on his mother.

“He was a great son. A great son,” Turner said. “‘Mom you hungry? I’m going to go get you something to eat.’”

And for every sibling on every one of their birthdays, she said, Odom would make sure he got them a gift. No matter what. Turner said he had seven brothers and sisters and about another 10 stepsiblings.

On Friday afternoon, friends and family filtered in and out of Turner’s home to comfort her and remember Odom. Outside in the frigid afternoon air on the front porch, one relative, a young boy, said Odom was “awesome.” Odom’s girlfriend wiped away tears as she stood on the steps with Turner and listened to her speak about her son.

As Turner plans a memorial service for her son, she said she hopes his killers will soon be caught.

“I’m trying to keep myself together,” she said. “It’s not easy. But I’m trying. I just wish that they find out whoever did it and they put him away for a very long time.

“That’s all I want. I want justice. Yes I do,” she said. “Because that was my baby.”

Staff writer Chris Palmer contributed to this article.