Boy, 12, Killed After Being Shot Through Front Door of Frankford Home

A 12-year-old boy is dead after he was shot overnight Sunday while attempting to answer the door at a home in Philadelphia's Frankford neighborhood, police said.

The shooting happened around 2:45 a.m. along the 5000 block of Ditman Street.

Deputy Commissioner Melvin Singleton said there was a knock at the door and that the shooter fired a single shot through the door's window. The bullet hit the boy in the head.

Police arrived within minutes of the shooting to find the boy, identified by family members as Sadeek Clark-Harrison, bleeding from his mouth, Singleton said. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene just after 3 a.m.

Sadeek was at home with his grandmother and his 10-year-old sister. None are believed to be the intended target, the deputy commissioner said.

"[The shooter] could not have had any idea of who is on the other side of that door," Singleton said.

Distraught family members arrived at the home overnight. Crying and wails of anguish could be heard throughout the early morning hours along the block.

"They dimmed a light on me," Sadeek's mother, Lisa Clark, told NBC10. "When they took my son away from me, they dimmed my lights. Ya'll dimmed my lights."

Sadeek's family said they don't know who pulled the trigger but believed the voice sounded like an adult.

"I'm disgusted that someone would come to my door, late at night, and shoot him," Clark said. "They were knocking on his door and calling his name, 'Sadeek! Sadeek!'"

Clark said her son was known for helping people.

"He helped people with their groceries," she said. "He helped the churches. He helped everybody!"

Sadeek's neighbor, Tony Colon, told NBC10 the boy once helped save his life during a medical emergency.

"That day I passed out on the sofa. He went and got everybody. Got me to the hospital because of him," Colon said.

Sadeek's killing is the 437th homicide in Philadelphia in 2020 – that's 118 more deaths than the same time last year.

Police hope to obtain surveillance video from nearby homes to aid in their investigation. They currently do not have a description of the shooter, but did recover a shell casing from the porch.

There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.