School Fight Ends in 4 Bystanders Shot: Cops

High school fight between girls escalates into shooting that injures innocent bystanders: cops

What started as a school fight between girls at South Philly High School wound up a shooting that left two children, their grandmother and another man shot on the 1200 block of S. Bucknell Street Tuesday night, Philadelphia Police said.

The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. in the Point Breeze neighborhood.

A 2-year-old girl was in critical condition at Children's Hospital after being shot twice, once in the hip/stomach and once in the hand, according to Police Lt. Ray Evers.

The girl's 10-year-old brother was in stable condition after being hit in the left leg, cops said.

Their 59-year-old grandmother was also shot. She was hit in the left leg. She's hospitalized in stable condition, police said.

A family member indentified the victims as 2-year-old Ayisha Owens, 10-year-old Siyair Owens and 59-year-old Andrea Pointer. Siyair and his grandmother were out of the hospital Wednesday afternoon while Ayisha remained hospitalized in stable but critical condition, according to family.

An unrelated 25-year-old man was also at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand. He was believed to be an innocent bystander to the shooting, cops said.

The children and their grandmother are related to one of the girls involved in an earlier fight at South Philly High School. That argument began over the summer and came to a head on Bucknell Street Tuesday, police said.

The fight began during the day at South Philly High, followed by two girls forcing their way into the home of the grandparents of a 12-year-old girl, said cops.

The grandparents were able to push the girls back out onto the street where the fight became a larger rumble involving some men, cops said.

“Some male arrived with some sticks and golf clubs so it continued into a physical confrontation. During this confrontation, two males produced handguns,” Evers said.

One of the alleged shooters was described as a 25 to 30-year-old heavyset black male, about 220 pounds wearing a white T-shirt, jeans and black fitted baseball cap. He was carrying an automatic gun and fled southbound on Bucknell.

The other alleged shooter was described as a 25 to 30-year-old dark-skinned, medium-built black male in his early 20s with a shaved head or close cropped hair who was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, cops said. He apparently had a revolver and fled northbound on Bucknell.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey vowed to find out the people responsible for the incident.

“It’s stupid, it’s absolutely stupid,” a frustrated Ramsey said. “It’s another example how people behave -- the violence they engage in -- it makes no sense at all. You’ve got a 2 year-old fighting for her life -- a 10 year-old shot in the leg.”

Ramsey pledged to make sure they throw the book at the shooters in this case.

Police were at the high school Wednesday trying to figure out what led up to the fight.

Anyone with information on the shooting should contact Philadelphia Police.


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