A man died, and two others -- including a young girl -- were hurt in a shooting that played out along the Passyunk Avenue Bridge in Southwest Philadelphia Thursday night.
Police said they responded to Passyunk Avenue along each side of the bridge over the Schuylkill River around 8:30 p.m., with one car stopped near 28th Street on one side and the other near 61st Street on the other side.
On the 28th Street side of the bridge, officers found a 23-year-old man slumped in the driver's seat of a Chevy Malibu crashed against the barrier, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
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There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
The man was unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds to his head and shoulder, Small said. Medics pronounced him dead a short time later.
A girl -- originally believed to by 9 years old, but later said to be 10 -- who was also in the Malibu was grazed by a bullet in her head during the shooting, Small said.
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Witnesses told police that the 10-year-old girl was in the front passenger seat of the Malibu, Small said. Preliminary information is that the girl and the man who was killed are related.
"She was able to get out of the vehicle, according to witnesses, she was in the eastbound lanes on foot, running... when a good Samaritan picked her up and drove her a few blocks to the 1st Police District station," Small said.
Police then rushed her to a children's hospital to be treated for the graze wound to her head, Small said.
"She's extremely lucky, although she was struck by gunfire," Small said. "She is very fortunate only to have a graze wound to her head."
It appeared the Malibu was "targeted," Small said.
In a parking lot at 61st and Passyunk, officers found a man in his 40s in the driver's seat of an Acura with a gunshot wound to his back, Small said. He was rushed to the hospital and placed in critical condition.
It appeared the shooting started at 61st and Passyunk because that's where investigators found at least 26 bullet casings, Small said. At least 10 bullet holes were in the passenger side of the Malibu.
"It appears that someone shot multiple shots into that Chevy Malibu striking the 23-year-old driver in the head and the shoulder," Small said. "He was able to drive the vehicle, or the vehicle drifted over the bridge, and came to rest against the median."
The shooting remained under investigation overnight as police didn't know the motivation for the triple shooting.
Entering Friday, there have been 92 homicides so far this year in Philadelphia, according to police data. That's down around 35% and the lowest year-to-date total of killings since 2016.
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