Philadelphia mayor calls for action after 3 killed, 6 injured

PHILADELPHIA — The city’s mayor on Friday called for action after three separate shootings left three people dead and six others injured.

Two of those killed were teenagers.

The gunfire began Thursday afternoon when a 16-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man were cut down by bullets that also wounded a 30-year-old and a 19-year-old man, police said.

The violence continued when a gunman opened fire near a rec center’s basketball court, striking two boys and a girl, police said. All were 15 years old. One of the boys died.

Police said a man and a woman also were shot shortly before midnight.

No arrests have been made in any of the shootings.

“At this rate, 2021 is on track to be the most violent year we’ve experienced in our lifetimes,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement. “We cannot stand by as we lose an entire generation to the ongoing scourge of gun violence. We must rise up with one united voice to demand this horrific violence come to an end, and work together to achieve that goal.”

The mayor announced his administration will host public briefings to discuss strategies to address the situation.

Prior to Thursday’s shootings, there had been 92 homicide victims in the city.