Amid fireworks and July 4th celebrations throughout the city, two young men -- including a fashion brand owner -- were killed and a teenage girl was hurt as up to 100 shots were fired into a crowd of people celebrating outside a West Philadelphia storefront Sunday night.
The shooting took place around 10:40 p.m. outside the Premiere Bande store along 60th Street, between Chestnut and Walnut streets. A cookout, advertised on Instagram by Sircarr Johnson Jr., the young owner of the fashion brand, was taking place at the time, according to family and social media posts.
Investigators said anywhere from 90 to 100 shots may have been fired from one or more gunmen, striking at least two young men and a 16-year-old girl.
Rapid gunfire mixed with fireworks making it hard to know where the shooting was coming from.
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Johnson and 21-year-old Salahaldin Mahmoud died a short time later at the hospital. Mahmoud is the cousin of April Street, the wife of Pennsylvania State Sen. Sharif Street.
The girl was hospitalized in stable condition with gunshot wounds to her legs and buttocks.
Johnson had organized the cookout and July 4th celebration at his business through social media, his father, Sircarr Johnson, said.
"My son is the greatest person... I've ever known in my life, he's everything I wish I would have been," the elder Johnson said while noting the deadly toll of gun violence in Philadelphia so far this year. "He's not just anybody who just -- the 287 or 89, I can't keep count no more -- he's not one of them people."
The elder Johnson called his son a leader who would organize charity drives in the community.
Mahmoud had recently began working as a tow truck driver, his family said. His dreams of owning his own business was dashed.
"There are too many of our kids dying in the streets," Senator Street said Tuesday, just moments before Mahmoud's funeral.
Street called the shooting tragic, but not shocking due to the proliferation of gun violence in Philadelphia.
Police ran out of numbered evidence markers, putting "104" on a piece of paper on one marker at the scene. Bullet holes could be seen in buildings and cars nearby.
No arrests have been made.
This wasn't the only deadly shooting overnight. Tyron Rozier, 17, was found shot to death on the sidewalk by someone walking along the 2100 block of West Sedgely Avenue in North Philadelphia late Sunday night. Kevon Sample, 20, was also gunned down just before 2 a.m. Monday along the 5900 block of Hazel Street in West Philadelphia.
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As of the end of Monday, at least 285 homicides had been reported in Philadelphia, up 36% from the same time last year, which ended up being one of the most deadly in the city’s history.
In May, Philadelphia joined 14 other cities as part of a nationwide effort to reduce violent crime. Mayor Jim Kenney is also set to sign a fiscal 2022 budget that would allocate more than $155 million to anti-violence programs.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
