Hours after his son was shot during an attempted robbery, Mohamed Sesay made an impassioned plea to Philadelphia's leaders.
“Can you people do something about this? So you can stop this trend? It’s too much," Sesay said, in reference to the continued gun violence in the city. "People are suffering! Families are suffering!”
Sesay's 40-year-old son Sallieu bought a tow truck two months ago to start his own business. After finishing his work shift, Sallieu parked the truck along South 72nd Street near Greenway Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia shortly before 11 p.m. Monday when four young men -- believed to be in their teens or early 20s -- approached him and tried to rob him, according to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
“All wearing dark clothing. And they announced a robbery," Small said. "And for some reason the robbery escalated into a shooting. We know four shots were fired. The victim was hit three times.”
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After the shooting, the suspects ran off on foot, Small said.
Sallieu was shot in the leg, arm and abdomen. Video obtained by NBC10 shows an injured Sallieu knocking on the door of his cousin's home, asking for help.
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“I got shot! I got shot," he says in the clip.
Responding police officers rushed Sallieu to the hospital where he remains in critical condition.
“The way he was bleeding, they couldn’t wait for ambulance," Sesay told NBC10. "The police had to take him with the police car.”
Sesay is originally from Sierra Leone and has lived in Philadelphia for the past 30 years. He told NBC10 his son is expected to survive. While he's hopeful, he is also frustrated.
“Why they don’t do something about guns?” Sesay asked.
Other neighbors in the area shared those frustrations.
“Are we safe? That’s what I want to know," Famatta Francis, a resident, told NBC10. "Are we even okay to stay outside?”
No arrests have been made in the shooting. If you have any information, please call Philadelphia Police.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
