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Philadelphia mass shootings: Three killed and 15 injured after 'several active shooters' open fire

One of the suspects is reportedly among those injured and is currently hospitalized with a non-life-threatening injury

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA:  mass shooting in Philadelphia has claimed three lives and injured at least 15 others after multiple gunmen opened fire at a popular weekend spot Saturday night, June 4.

Authorities identified two of the victims as a 25-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man. Meanwhile, one of the suspects is reportedly among those injured and is currently hospitalized with a non-life-threatening injury. One police source revealed that officers responded to the scene just before midnight and encountered "several active shooters" firing into a crowd. An officer shot three times at one of the suspects and no officers were injured in the incident.

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Cops said at least one shooter dropped a gun that was equipped with "an extended magazine." Officers recovered two guns at the scene. "You can imagine there were hundreds of individuals enjoying South Street, as they do every single weekend, when this shooting broke out," Philadelphia Police Department Inspector D.F. Pace said, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The city was already reeling from nine separate shootings between Friday night and Saturday prior to the latest shooting, and no arrests have been made in any of those incidents, per CBS Philadelphia. Inquirer reporter Max Marin tweeted evidence of "pandemonium stretching several blocks," sharing photos of broken car windows and knocked-over trash cans.

According to the Inquirer, not all of those injured were shot. One of those being treated in a local hospital is a suspect in the shooting who was allegedly shot in the forearm. One alleged eyewitness wrote on Twitter that he saw "lots of young kids out doing dumb stuff, in the street & jumping on cars & then a guy in a hoodie pulled a gun out, 11 casings & 2 live rounds on the ground." 

Eric Walsh, who works at the nearby O'Neals Pub, said he heard gunshots around 11.30 pm and quickly ushered those in and around the bar to seek shelter. "People were coming off the street with blood splatters on white sneakers and skinned knees and skinned elbows," Walsh told the Inquirer. "We literally just were balling up napkins and wetting them and handing them to people... it was chaos." Video footage from the aftermath showed a large crowd surrounding police vehicles and sirens blaring.

"Once it started I didn’t think it was going to stop," witness Joe Smith told the outlet. "There was guttural screaming. I just heard screams," he said, adding that the gunshots immediately reminded him of the recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. At the time of the shooting, Smith was at the nearby Theater of the Living Arts venue, where the band Dying Fetus had been performing. Philadelphia authorities confirmed that multiple people were shot in the area of South Street between 3rd and 4th, but did not specify how many. Nonetheless, they advised the public to avoid the area. 

According to the report, seven victims were rushed to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Five others, including one of the suspects, were taken to Pennsylvania Hospital. The remaining three victims were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.