A man was shot in Center City Philadelphia early Monday morning, the latest shooting as the city continues to deal with gun violence.
Police could be seen taping off the area near the Marriott hotel along the 1200 block of Filbert Street after the shooting around 2 a.m. The scene is within blocks of Philadelphia City Hall, the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.
A 26-year-old man was shot in the right leg and in the stomach, Philadelphia police said. He was rushed to the hospital in critical but stable condition.
It is unclear the circumstances around the shooting.
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Police said they recovered a weapon at the scene, but they had made no arrest.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said this latest shooting is "an indication about what is happening in gun violence."
This overnight incident was the latest incident as the city grapples with gun violence.
Over the past week -- ending Sunday -- there have been 14 homicides and 43 people injured in shootings.
On Monday, Krasner noted that people are "scared" by the recent uptick in shootings after weeks of deadly gun violence slowly declining.
To date, at least 404 people have been killed in Philadelphia in 2021.
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Krasner noted that violent crime and crime in general are actually down in the city as gun crimes soar.
"What we are seeing is a terrible spike in gun violence -- both last year and this year -- and that is what has us so rightly concerned," Krasner said, while noting his "outrage."
"We are better than this as a community," he said.
On Monday, the first-term Democratic DA reiterated his call for community cooperation in stopping the bloodshed. He said the DA's office has taken $1 million of forfeiture money and doled some of it out to community groups working to curb the violence.
In June, Philadelphia’s city council approved a fiscal 2022 budget that invests over $155 million in violence prevention programs to help curb the city’s gun violence. That sum includes $22 million in grants for organizations focused on “reducing violence through trauma-informed healing and restorative practices and safe havens and mentorship.”
The new city budget also funds a $400 million program to create affordable housing, preserve neighborhoods, increase job growth, supports anti-poverty measures, continue police reform and gives additional funds to revitalize the city’s arts, culture and hospitality sectors.
But efforts to stem violent crime in Philadelphia have extended beyond the city.
On Thursday, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and other elected state leaders were in West Philadelphia to encourage to urge community-based violence prevention groups to apply for millions of dollars in state grants. As they spoke four people were shot in a drive-by nearby, underscoring how pervasive the issue has become.
At the federal level, President Joe Biden’s administration chose Philadelphia as one of 15 cities across the country to take part in a collaborative effort to share violence prevention strategies.
The violence, however, has continued.
“I know most Philadelphians are rightfully outraged and frustrated by our city's rise in violence,” Democratic Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said on Twitter. “Please know, our administration takes this crisis very seriously. We are committed to working with all of our criminal justice & community partners to create a safer city for us all.”
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
