3 men shot in legs in separate incidents

A local fugitive was wounded by police and two other people were shot in separate incidents in less than two hours last night.

The spate of violence started at 8:10 p.m., when a 19-year-old man took a bullet to the left ankle and right thigh while he was walking near Connell Park, at 64th Street and Grays Avenue in Southwest Philly, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.

The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in stable condition. The motive for the shooting was unclear, and the gunman is still on the loose.

About 20 minutes later, a Philadelphia police officer spotted a man he believed was wanted on an outstanding warrant on 55th Street near Lansdowne Avenue in Overbrook, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.

The suspect took off on foot and the officer eventually caught up with him in an alley on nearby Hunter Street. The officer fired his weapon during an apparent confrontation, wounding the suspect once in the leg, Vanore said.

The man was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where investigators were trying to get him positively identified. The shooting will be investigated by Internal Affairs, Vanore said.

At about 9:45 p.m., a 17-year-old boy told police he was sitting on his steps on 54th Street near Pentridge in Kingsessing when two men approached him.

One of the men yelled out, "There he is!" and the other opened fire, Walker said. The teen was wounded in the leg and taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in stable condition. No arrests were made. *