2 remain hospitalized after 10 are shot at barbecue in Mantua

TWO GUNMEN may have used the occasion of a barbecue in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia as an "element of surprise" for a retaliatory attack Saturday night in which 10 people were shot, police said yesterday.

A baby and two children were among the victims when the gathering, attended by about 50 people at 41st Street near Ogden, was disrupted by gunfire. Two people remained hospitalized last night.

At 9:51 p.m., authorities responded to reports of two men firing from a gold or silver four-door sedan, police said.

The men fired two shotgun blasts, Lt. John Walker, of Southwest Detectives, said - "one shot fired from the corner of 41st and Ogden, and another fired toward people who were cleaning up [at the party]."

Walker said that the use of birdshot contributed to the high number of victims because the smaller pellets - used for the second shot - spread out among the attendees. Still, he said, "the use of birdshot wasn't as devastating" as larger bullets.

No arrests had been made in the case as of last night.

After the shots were fired, a neighbor said yesterday, a man who appeared to be in his 30s ran down Palm Street next to the lot where the barbecue was taking place.

"He was yelling, 'I don't sell drugs no more,' " the neighbor said.

The neighbor later saw the man walk back up Palm Street.

"He was upset, on the phone talking to someone," she said.

Police said yesterday that they did not know whether drugs had played a part in the shooting.

A week earlier, there had been a fistfight in the house on Ogden Street, Walker said. He suspects that the losers of the fight returned for retaliation on Saturday.

"They thought the party would add an element of surprise," Walker said.

Outside the house where the shooting took place, residents declined to comment yesterday beyond confirming that the "baby was OK."

Investigators said that the 19-month-old girl was brought to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia after she was grazed on the left side of her neck. The two other children also were brought to CHOP, police said: a 13-year-old boy shot in the chest and an 11-year-old girl shot in the left knee.

All three were released from the hospital yesterday, Walker said.

Other victims included a 46-year-old man shot in the leg, a 26-year-old man shot in the left side of his face, a 24-year-old man shot in his chest and legs, and a 22-year-old man shot in the right arm. They all were brought to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where the 46-year-old and 22-year-old were in stable condition yesterday.

An eighth victim, a 44-year-old woman, was shot in the left forearm and taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was in stable condition.

Two other male victims were treated at Hahnemann University Hospital and released.