3 kids among victims in Kensington shooting

YESTERDAY ON Hilton Street between F and G, you could see the remnants of a sunny day gone horribly wrong.

A toddler-size lawn chair featuring two Disney princesses - Elsa from "Frozen" and Merida of "Brave" - faced a pair of tiny sandals and a bloodstain on the sidealk, partly obscured by a pile of clothes at Hilton and G streets. It was a cool, shady spot on a block that otherwise was baking.

Several residents were outside trying to beat the heat about 2:30 p.m., when a man with a shotgun opened fire on the Kensington block, wounding seven, police said.

Police believe that the shooter moved down the block with specific victims in mind.

As of last night, two men, ages 24 and 25, were in critical condition at Temple University Hospital, police said in a news release. The other five, including two 10-year-old girls and a 3-year-old girl, were in stable condition with graze wounds.

In total, the shooting sent three victims to Temple, three to Hahnemann University Hospital and one to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in North Philly.

The shooter was described as a stocky black man about 5-7, between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a red-and-white tank top with a black bandanna covering most of his face.

The shooting brought a media blitz to the block, irking one woman who said she knew one of the victims. Smoking a cigarette in the shade of a corner store within sight of the crime-scene tape, she said she'd been approached by several news organizations throughout the day.

"It's the same thing over and over again," the woman told the Daily News. "You see the tape. You know what happened . . . One of my babies got shot." She declined to elaborate.

Neighborhood residents, some dripping with sweat, took detours walking down alternate streets to avoid police tape. On the blocks within the yellow tape, residents sat on their porches or peeked out their front doors, craning to see the commotion.

It was the second multiple-victim shotgun shooting in three days, after 10 people were shot Saturday night at a barbecue in Mantua.

In that incident, police said, the shooter used birdshot, or shotgun shells that release several smaller pellets over a wide area.

Police said yesterday's shooter used buckshot, which is intended for hunting larger game and discharges fewer and larger pellets.

Police recovered the shotgun near the home of Kathleen Rago, on Willard Street between F and G. Rago, a former town watchwoman who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, was outside with her digital camera getting photos.

"It's just scary as hell," she said.

Police Inspector Michael McCarrick said shootings involving children can be difficult for cops because of the emotion involved.

"Any shooting is one too many," he said. "No officer likes to respond to a shooting . . . But when children are involved, it makes it that much more egregious."