Violence, fast and furious: 8 shot in city in just 2 hours

Eight people were shot in the city in just two hours Saturday night and yesterday morning, including two children below the age of 10, police said.

One victim died - a 24-year-old who was among three men found shot inside a car when police pulled it over in West Kensington.

About 1:40 a.m. yesterday, cops responding to reports of a shooting on Lehigh Avenue near 2nd Street pulled over a gold Chevy Tahoe heavily damaged by gunfire, and found that three of the five men inside were wounded.

Police said that the car apparently was stopped at a traffic light on Lehigh when another car pulled up alongside and words were exchanged. Then, one or more people in the other car opened fire on the Tahoe, police said.

The victim, who was not identified, was shot several times and taken to Episcopal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:04 a.m., according to police.

A 23-year-old passenger was shot in the left shoulder and was in critical but stable condition yesterday at Temple University Hospital, and another 23-year-old passenger who was shot in the right hand was treated at Temple and released.

Police yesterday had no suspects and no description of the other vehicle.

About 1:45 a.m., a 9-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman sitting on the front porch of a Hunting Park house were hit by gunfire.

Police said that the two had "exchanged words" with a group of about five men who passed by the porch on Cayuga Street near 4th.

The men then walked about a block away before turning around and shooting at the victims, police said.

The 9-year-old, who was shot in the left leg, was taken first to Temple and then to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where she was listed yesterday in stable condition.

The 22-year-old, shot once in the right leg, was taken to Temple and also was listed as stable, police said.

The night's violence began about 11:50 p.m. Saturday, when a South Philadelphia party was marred by gunfire.

The party was under way in front of an apartment on Washington Avenue near 3rd Street, when an unidentified gunman, who was staked out about 500 feet away on 4th Street, indiscriminately opened fire on the crowd.

Police said that they found where the shooter had fired from - an unlit area with bushes and trash bins - because spent shell casings littered the ground.

It was unknown if the shooter hit the intended target, but a 3-year-old boy was hit in the lower left leg.

The child was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition yesterday.

Also taken to Jefferson later and listed in stable condition was a 30-year-old woman who was shot in her shoulder. A 34-year-old man who suffered a graze wound to his stomach was treated at the same hospital and released, police said.

A police source said that "bad blood" between residents of the two sides of Washington Avenue may be to blame.

Police have not made arrests in any of the cases.

Anyone with information about these crimes is urged to call the department's tip line at 215-686-TIPS.