Police identify teen and man killed outside Polaris club

Philadelphia police have identified the 15-year-old boy and the man who were killed early Saturday morning when a gunman fired a 9mm semiautomatic weapon into a crowd outside a North Philadelphia nightclub.

Daemel Gaskins, 15, and Stanley Wilson, 21, both of the city's Germantown section, were among an estimated 150 people gathered in front of the Polaris Nightclub shortly after 2 a.m. It was closing time, and bouncers were trying to move the group away from the entrance of the bar, at 400 N. Ninth St., when shooting began.

Gaskins and Wilson were fatally wounded in the spray of bullets. Police still are searching for the gunman and do not know the motive, although the shooting followed an argument outside the club, according to Sgt. Bob Wilkins.

Three other men were wounded. A 20-year-old was shot in his left leg and a 21-year-old had a bullet in his left foot; they were in stable condition yesterday at Hahnemann Hospital and Jefferson University Hospital, respectively. A 23-year-old man, shot in his right thigh, was treated at Hahnemann and released on Saturday.

Police have not identified the three men because they are witnesses. Wilkins said he did not know whether any of the victims knew one another or the gunman. Contrary to previous news reports, there had been no fight inside the bar, he said, adding that Polaris has ample security and is not known as a trouble spot.