What to Know
- A 13-year-old boy was shot twice at a Southwest Philadelphia corner store overnight.
- The gunfire appeared to come from outside the store, police said.
- Police identified a suspect as 19-year-old Rafiq Small of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.
Police have identified a teen suspect in a shooting that injured a 13-year-old boy inside a Southwest Philadelphia corner store.
An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for Rafiq Small, 19, of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He is wanted for attempted murder and other related offenses in connection to a shooting outside Island Super Market at Island and Woodland avenues in Philadelphia around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday.
A 13-year-old boy was inside the store when two bullets, possibly fired from a crowd gathered in the street outside the store, pierced the glass and struck him in the stomach, Philadelphia police said.
NBC10 obtained surveillance video showing the teen running inside the store during the shooting.
“We just heard gunshots,” store worker Jeffrey Salcedo said. “I just ducked to the ground, I was just trying get him to a safe place, so I could call 911.”
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Some of the about 20 people inside the store tried to stop the bleeding, witnesses said. The boy was rushed to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in critical but stable condition.
The boy lives at a group home. NBC10 tried to speak to a man at the group home to find out why the boy was out late on a school night. The man left without responding.
The group of people quickly dispersed and fled from the scene. Some of the men may have left in a black BMW sedan that police in Philly and neighboring Delaware County were looking out for early Wednesday, according to investigators.
Surveillance video captured the incident in which about eight shots in total were fired. Investigators said they were trying to determine if the boy was targeted or an innocent bystander and if the gunfire came from the crowd or someplace else.
Police later identified Small as a suspect. He stands 5-foot, 4inches tall and weighs around 120 pounds. Police said he should be armed and dangerous. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact Philadelphia Police.
