Philadelphia

Man Dead, Teen Wounded in Shooting at Port Richmond Park

The shooting at Campbell Square park may have been carried out as a form of retaliation, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said

A shooting at a park in Philadelphia's Port Richmond section left a young man dead and a teenage boy wounded. 

The shooting at Campbell Square, which occurred around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, may have been carried out as a form of retaliation, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. 

"The motive we're getting now is this may have been over a prior fight, or argument or physical altercation earlier [Wednesday]," Small said.

Officers responding to reports of shots fired found 19-year-old Anthony Cheever who was shot in the chest. He was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead there a short time later.

Cheever's friend, who did not want to be identified, told NBC10 she tried to help him moments after the shooting.

"He was laying there, and there were a whole bunch of kids around him," she said. "Pandemonium."

A 16-year-old boy who was shot in the leg remains hospitalized in stable condition.

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It wasn't immediately clear how many shooters may have been involved. They apparently were among several people who were in the park when the shots rang out.

Witnesses told police that the shooters and the people with them fled on foot and on bicycles after the gunshots rang out, Small said.

Loved ones described Cheever as a hard worker who made everybody laugh.

"He wanted something more," Jaime Smith, Cheever's mother, told NBC10. "He was getting ready to go back to school."

As police investigate, Smith hopes witnesses will help them identify the gunman.

"I don't want any other kids to get hurt," she said. "I don't want retaliation. Anthony wouldn't want that."

If you have any information on the shooting, please call Philadelphia police.

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