Separate Shootings Within Minutes, Within a Block of Each Other Leave Teen, Man Hurt

Two separate shootings less than a block apart and within minutes of each other in the Kensington neighborhood left a teenage girl who appeared to be an innocent bystander and a man who was firing his own gun injured, Philadelphia police said.

"A coincidence that there were two shootings a half a block apart from each other, 15 minutes apart," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

The first shooting took place just before 10:30 p.m. Thursday along the 3100 block of G Street -- just off the 800 block of East Allegheny Avenue, Small said.

Responding officers found a 15-year-old girl shot in both of her thighs, a parked car with bullet holes and evidence that at least 14 shots were fired, Small said. The girl was rushed to the hospital where she was treated in critical condition. Small said she is "expected to survive."

"She may have been struck by stray gunfire," Small said.

As police were investigating the G Street shooting of the girl, they heard gunshots coming from less than half a block away, Small said.

Officers "within seconds" responded to Allegheny Avenue to find a man firing a handgun, Small said. The officers ordered the man -- believed to be in his late 20s -- to the ground, recovered his gun and then realized the man was bleeding.

The man was rushed to the hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his leg, police said.

The man told police that he was shooting his gun after being shot at during an apparent drive-by.

"We believe he was returning fire," Small said.

Police hoped that surveillance video from nearby cameras would help them track down clues that could lead them to the shooters.

The G Street shooting was the latest shooting involving a child in Philadelphia. Entering Friday, children made up about 11% of the more than 740 shooting victims in the city so far in 2023.