2 hurt in shooting near ex-NFL player's garage
A teen is fighting for his life today after a shooting near an ex-NFL player's auto-body shop in Brewerytown, police said.
Just after 5 p.m., officers from the 22nd District found two men shot near Chuckie's Garage on Thompson Street near 25th, police spokeswoman Officer Christine O'Brien said.
The shop, owned by former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison, appears to be unrelated to the shooting, police said. It was the scene of another, much-publicized shooting in 2008.
In today's shooting, one victim, 23, was shot once in the buttocks. The other, a 19-year-old, was hit twice in his thigh and abdomen. Both were taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, O'Brien said.
The 23-year-old is listed in stable condition, but his friend is in critical condition, awaiting surgery, police said.
Chief Inspector Scott Small, who responded to the scene, said the victims told investigators that their attackers fled the scene in a black Cadillac sedan with New York license plates. Police have that plate number, and are searching the city for that vehicle, which was reportedly seen earlier in the day in West Philly.
A bag of a "weed-like substance" was found at the scene of the shooting, Small said, making a drug sale gone bad a potential motive for the attack.
One witness, a 62-year-old woman, had just parked her SUV near the garage when the gunfire erupted. A bullet struck her car's front fender as she sat in the driver's seat, but she walked away without injury, Small said.
The attack came an hour after another shooting, one that left a 44-year-old man in critical condition.
In that earlier incident, the victim was shot four times on Folsom Street near 51st in West Philadelphia: twice in his head, once in his neck and once in his right shoulder, according to police.
He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he remains tonight in critical condition.
The suspect was seen running north on 51st Street after the shooting. No information on a motive is available.