After a man shot at a group of people outside a Northeast Philadelphia Target Friday afternoon, injuring one and prompting a SWAT team search of the department store, the suspected gunman turned himself in to police, according to law enforcement sources.
The suspect came into Northeast Detectives late Friday night, police said. Charges against the unidentified man are pending.
Gunfire rang out around 3:30 p.m. in front of the Target at Bustleton and Bleigh avenues across from the Roosevelt Mall, police said.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said an argument between a group of at least three men escalated into a fight. One man then pulled out a gun and fired seven shots.
"We don't know if the individual who was shot was an individual they were fighting with," Ross said.
The 29-year-old victim suffered a gunshot wound to the back, Ross said. He was rushed to Aria Torresdale Hospital in serious condition. He's expected to survive.
Ross said the victim was carrying a gun and had a permit to carry, but that he did not use it. The victim was driving by the scene when he saw a friend involved in a physical altercation, investigators said.
The store was busy with dozens of shoppers and employees milling in and out of the entrance when the gunfire started.
Felicia Faison, a Target employee, was waiting to start her shift when she watched the fight break out.
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"When the shots started I got down in back of this rock pillar because bullets don't have no names on them," she said. "I was shook."
Christine Terren was shopping in the back of the store with her granddaughter and 4-year-old great grandson when she heard people shouting.
"I heard banging and I just thought maybe somebody was throwing stuff around…but then everybody just started running," she said.
They escaped out of an emergency exit along with other shoppers.
Police locked down the 137,000 square foot store after some witnesses reported the gunman had run inside. The SWAT team was called in to do a sweep. They did not find the gunman, but did help a few hiding shoppers escape, Ross said.
About an hour after the shooting happened, the lockdown was lifted and police escorted shoppers to their cars so they could leave.
Police initially said there were two gunmen, but that was later revised.
