Teen arrested in shooting of boy, 11

NORTH PHILA. Police on Friday arrested a 16-year-old boy and were searching for his older brother in an apparent payback shooting over the weekend that resulted in an 11-year-old bystander being struck by a bullet.

The two brothers, according to investigators, opened fire Sunday afternoon at the corner of Gratz and Oxford Streets in North Philadelphia a few hours after a pack of four men had pummeled the 16-year-old in a fistfight on that same block, said Capt. Frank Banford of Central Detectives.

Banford said his detectives, armed with warrants, arrested the teenager around 6:10 a.m. Friday at his family's home on the 1900 block of Susquehanna Avenue but did not find his 25-year-old brother, Marcelus Temple, as they had hoped.

Police released a photo of Temple in the hope it would help bring him into custody. No charges had yet been filed against the teenager, whom Banford declined to identify due to his age and who was being held by detectives.

The 11-year-old boy who was wounded while playing basketball at a makeshift hoop on the street nearby, Kashie Crawford, was in stable condition Friday at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. A decision had not yet been made Friday whether to remove the bullet, now in his stomach, Banford said.

The early-morning arrest and pursuit of the brothers was the result of investigative work by Detectives Michael Rocks and James Callahan, who "developed witnesses who identified the two shooters," Banford said.

The shooting appeared to have stemmed from a fistfight earlier in the day, around 1 p.m. Sunday, at Gratz and Oxford, Banford said.

Four men attacked the 16-year-old, then the teenager apparently went home and returned with his brother at 3:49 p.m., both siblings apparently armed, Banford said.

Police believe the brothers saw at least one man standing on the corner and opened fire with .40-caliber and .45-caliber handguns, Banford said.

The 11-year-old boy was playing nearby and "caught a bullet to the hip," Banford said.

The boy was stabilized through emergency surgery at Temple University Hospital and later transferred to St. Christopher's, Banford said.

Authorities said charges against the alleged shooters may include aggravated assault, simple assault, criminal conspiracy, firearms violations, reckless endangerment and possession of an instrument of crime.