A man is in the hospital after he was shot in the stomach by a teenager who was playing with a gun in North Philadelphia Tuesday, according to investigators.
Investigators say a teen was playing with a handgun on the 1200 block of West Tioga Street at 5:05 p.m. and accidentally fired the weapon. A 64-year-old man who lives in a nearby boarding house was struck once in the stomach and slumped to the ground.
“I sat here and I looked over there,” a witness told NBC10. “He stood up and blood started gushing out.”
The man was taken to Temple University Hospital where he is currently in critical condition but expected to survive.
The gunman handed the weapon to an 18-year-old man who threw it in a vacant lot and stayed at the scene, police said. The teen was taken into custody but officials are still searching for the gunman, who could have fired from a pearl-colored Ford Crown Victoria. The car then fled east on Tioga toward 11th Street, police said.
“We don’t think that that male we have in custody was the actual shooter,” said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. “But we believe he was with the shooter and knows who the shooter is.”
Police say the 18-year-old could still end up being charged however because he had the handgun.
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As the search for the gunman continues, friends of the victim are hoping he recovers.
“We’re all just praying that he’s okay,” said Patricia Debraganza. “But things happen. But you don’t expect it to happen where you live and to people that you know.”
