A teen was killed and a boy was injured during a shooting early Sunday morning in North Philadelphia, and the gunman remains on the loose, police said.
Police said the victims were hanging out with a group of other teens near the corner of 19th and Somerset streets shortly after midnight when a gunman approached and opened fire.
"I heard the eight gunshots, looked out both windows," said a witness who did not want to be identified. "I didn't see anything at first until I went to the other window and I saw a man on the ground."
A 16-year-old, identified by relatives as Marquez Houston, was shot twice in the chest.
"I ran out and checked his pulse," the witness said. "I didn't feel anything and once I saw all the blood I didn't want to move him."
A medic pronounced Houston dead at the scene.
Shortly after the shooting, a 12-year-old boy who lives on the block came up to officers and showed them he had been shot in the thigh. Police rushed the boy to Temple University Hospital where he was listed in stable condition.
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"This has to stop in our communities," the witness said. "All communities. All these young people are getting killed. For what?"
Houston was an 11th grade student at Universival Audenreid Charter School. He was also a triplet.
Neighbors say they often saw the teen playing on the block and he loved basketball.
A spokesperson for the school released a statement on his death.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic & senseless death of one of our own, Marquez Houston," the spokesperson wrote. "He was a respectable young man and will be truly missed. Our hearts & prayers are with his family at this most difficult time. We have assembled a team of grief counselors to assist our scholars and staff when they arrive for school in the morning.”
The shooter is described as a thin, light skinned black male in his early 20s, about 5-foot-9 with light brown eyes and wavy hair. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white lettering, dark blue jeans and black sneakers, officials said. If you have any information on the shooting, please call Philadelphia Police.
