What to Know
- A gunman got out of his car on Passyunk Avenue and opened fire a group of young people, killing Rasul Benson and injuring another teen.
- Surveillance video captured the shooter chasing down one of the boys.
- “The shooter was clearly shooting at the people,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
A gunman got out of his car and opened fire on a group of young people at a South Philadelphia gas station, killing one teen and injuring another.
The gunman, wearing a hoodie and jeans, fired at least 16 shots just after 8 p.m. Thursday at 25th Street and Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia police said.
“The shooter was clearly shooting at the people,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Officers arrived to find two 15-year-olds suffering from gunshot wounds and rushed them to the hospital. One boy, later identified as Rasul Benson. died a short time later from wounds to his head and back. Another boy who was shot in the arm and torso is expected to survive, police said.
Gas station surveillance video gave police a good idea of what happened.
“You can clearly see the shooter, he appears to get out of a vehicle on Passyunk Avenue then begin firing shots… toward a group of people,” Small said.
The video then shows the shooter running after one of the shooting victims, investigators said. The shooter then fled the scene.
The gas station was open at the time. Police hope enhanced video helps them determine who the shooter is and what car he was using.
"Our city is in crisis," Benson's cousin, Deedra Nichols, said. "People losing their kids every day, these are babies, he was only 15 years old and he didn’t even start to live his life yet."
The deadly shooting was the latest violent incident targeting teenagers in Philadelphia in the past few days: Two boys were stabbed on North Broad Street as they headed to school Thursday morning and another teen was hurt in a brawl that broke out on a SEPTA train.
