A teenage boy, a woman and a man were shot when at least two gunmen -- one with a rifle -- opened fire in the schoolyard of a Philadelphia elementary school overnight, Philadelphia police said. At least one bullet went into the empty school.
The shooting took place just around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday in the schoolyard of the Frances E. Willard Elementary School off Jasper Street, near East Clearfield Street, in the Kensington neighborhood, Philadelphia police said.
"This is a triple shooting with one juvenile shot, age 17," along with two 20 year olds, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said
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Police officers found the 20-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his arms and leg on the playground of the school, police said. Officers transported him to the hospital where doctors treated him in critical condition.
Two other gunshot victims turned up at the hospital, Small said. The 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg and the 20-year-old woman was shot at least three times in her backside. The boy was listed in critical condition and the woman was listed in stable condition, police said.
It appeared that bullets were fired from at least two weapons -- a rifle and a handgun -- as investigators found evidence that at least 30 shots were fired, Small said.
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It looked like the three shooting victims were standing near a car parked in the school parking lot when they were shot, Small said. At least 15 shots hit the passenger side of the Toyota.
"One of the bullets actually went through a window and lodged in the wall of one of the lobbies of the Willard School," Small said.
The School District of Philadelphia said classes for students at Willard were expected to be held as planned Wednesday, which is the third day of the academic year. However, as the investigation continued Wednesday morning, the school was briefly placed on lockdown before classes resumed normally.
School district spokesperson Marissa Orbanek released this statement around 9 a.m.:
"We are outraged for our students, families and staff that gun violence continues to impact our City. We are embracing our Willard School students, staff and families with extra counseling and trauma support staff from our Emergency/Crisis Response Team. The Willard School will operate on a normal schedule today, with extra school safety and operations supports on site as needed."
Frustrated parents noted the need to have the kids in class despite the violence happening around them.
"We still have to get them to school, they still need an education," father Martin Cosme said while dropping off his children at the school Wednesday morning. "They lost a lot of studies during the epidemic, they've got to catch up."
Police hoped evidence recovered at the scene, surveillance video and witnesses would help them as they searched for the shooters.
Children make up around 9% of the shooting victims in Philadelphia this year. According to a tally by the city controller’s office, most recently updated Monday, at least 149 minors have been shot in Philadelphia this calendar year.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
