Neighbors run for cover in Hunting Park triple shooting

When neighbors heard the gunfire in Hunting Park erupt Monday night, leaving one man dead and two other people wounded, they knew too well what to do.

"Go lay on the floor and lock all the doors," said one 33-year-old mother who gave her name only as Anet, adding that she heard more than 10 shots. "This ain't the first time, and it ain't gonna be the last."

Police said gunfire from at least two weapons broke out just after 7:30 p.m. at Darien and Lycoming streets. A 19-year-old man took at least one bullet to the head, police said, and dropped to the pavement at the corner. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:45 p.m.

A 22-year-old man was shot twice in the neck and rushed by police to Temple University Hospital, where he was in critical condition. A 16-year-old boy was also hit, once in the thigh and once behind the ear. Cops said a private auto dropped him off at Temple, and he was listed in stable condition.

Police were unsure what motivated the shooting, but were holding the injured 22-year-old man at the hospital as a prisoner and said they believe he may have been one of the shooters.

Police also said a man in a red hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and black sneakers was seen running east on Lycoming after the shooting.

Cops found 15 shell casings from two different weapons at the scene, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

Neighbors watched through the rain as cops swarmed the block and crime-scene investigators placed yellow markers on the street.

Tears stained the cheeks of a 13-year-old girl who spoke on condition of anonymity about the aftermath of the bloodbath.

"I came outside and saw him laying there," she said of the man who died at the scene, adding that she didn't know him but recognized him from the neighborhood. "I just saw him yesterday and he told me, 'You're gonna make it in life.'"

She cried, "I didn't believe my eyes. I came back around and had to look again."

Small said a surveillance camera outside a house captured part of the shooting and investigators were reviewing the footage.

Anet and another young mother, who gave her name only as Eva, 35, stood on the corner and shook their heads. Each said she was raising three young children in the neighborhood.

"It's not even safe for the kids to go to the park," Eva said.

"Even in the morning when we're getting [my son] on the bus, we've got to be careful. ... It's gotten to be very dangerous."

Contact Morgan Zalot at 215-5928, zalotm@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @morganzalot.