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A teen boy who was taking water into his Northeast Philadelphia house was shot in the head after a gunman opened fire Thursday night, police said.
Sean Toomey, 15, was carrying water from his parent's car and walking toward his home along the 6200 block of Mulberry Street around 9:10 p.m. when shots were fired, according to investigators.
Toomey was shot twice in the head, police said.
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“Went outside and I saw him lying on my neighbor’s lawn," the boy's father, John Toomey, told NBC10. "There was blood on his head. I thought maybe he’d fallen on the fence or something when I first saw it. I wasn’t adding it up. No one gets shot around here.”
The teen was taken to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital in extremely critical condition. His father told NBC10 on Friday that his son was brain dead.
“Can’t describe it. It’s not something I want anyone, anyone to experience," Toomey said. "I was just in the hospital. Doctor said he’s brain dead. Every time I turned away from him and saw him again I’d break down, over and over. He’s only 15! You know, kid is in the house most of the time playing with his computer and his phone. He went out to get some water.”
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No arrests have been made in the shooting. Police believe one of three teens involved in an attempted car theft across the street from Toomey's home was the one who shot the boy, according to Philadelphia Police Captain John Walker.
A woman, who did not want to be identified, told NBC10 the teen suspects had tried to break into her car along the 6200 block of Mulberry Street prior to the shooting. The woman said that one of the teens fired at her boyfriend after he went outside. However, Walker told NBC10 that man was not a target.
Accounts of what led to the shooting changed several times as the investigation continued Friday.
The suspects fled the scene. Police have not released detailed descriptions of them.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
Correction (March 25, 2022, 12:51 p.m.): Philadelphia police said that the people involved in the attempted car theft and shooting were not involved in an earlier robbery as originally reported.
