A 17-year-old boy was ambushed and killed in an “execution-style” shooting right as he was leaving a restaurant with a takeout order early Friday morning in Southwest Philadelphia, police said.
The teen was exiting the restaurant just before 12:45 a.m. when the gunman came up behind him and shot him multiple times in the head near the intersection of 61st and Buist streets, Philadelphia Police Department Inspector D.F. Pace said.
“The gunman got to withing about a foot or two of the gunshot victim and extended his arm with gun in hand and at point black range, in execution style, fired four shots at the victim’s head,” Pace said.
Surveillance video showed that the gunman and another person seemed to have orchestrated the killing as soon as the teen had entered the restaurant, Pace said.
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The video showed that as the victim was going inside, a male in a white shirt placed a gun at the base of the tire of a pick-up truck that was parked on the curb next to the eatery, the chief inspector said. Right as the victim left the restaurant, a male in a black hoodie picked up the gun, walked toward the teen and fired, he said.
The boy was pronounced dead at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center at 1:06 a.m. Police did not immediately make an arrest in his killing.
Meanwhile, another teen also got shot in the city around the same time.
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The 15-year-old boy was shot once in the hand near 12th and Spring Garden streets, police said. The teen was stable at the hospital, but police also did not arrest his shooter.
A gun violence tracker from the city controller’s office tallied at least 20 fatal and 97 nonfatal shooting victims under 18 years old as of June 16.
Amid surging violence and a shortage in officers, the PPD on Thursday announced a partnership with the Pennsylvania State Police aimed at increasing the presence of law enforcement in areas of the city hit hardest by crime.
The public safety program, named “Operation Trigger Lock,” puts state troopers with Philadelphia police highway patrol officers in select locations throughout the city.
“During this joint initiative, it will not be uncommon to see both PPD and PSP vehicles with one PPD officer and one PSP trooper per vehicle,” a PPD spokesperson wrote.
Both departments will share intelligence and resources while patrolling the “most-challenged communities” in Philadelphia, with a focus on violent crime.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
