Student killed, 2 young men shot near Overbrook High

An Overbrook High School student was killed and two other young males were wounded as gunfire broke out Thursday afternoon at a playground across from the school, authorities said.

About 3:45, two teens began fighting on the field at Tustin Playground, 59th Street and Lancaster Avenue, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. When one side started losing, "the guns came out," Walker said.

A driver on 59th saw a teenager bent over with a gunshot wound to the stomach and drove him to Lankenau Medical Center, where he was admitted in critical condition, police said. He died about 8 p.m., police said. A source identified him as Bernard Scott.

Fernando Gallard, spokesman for the Philadelphia School District, said the teen was a 10th grader at Overbrook. Police gave his age as 17.

Minutes earlier, officers had found a 17-year-old boy outside a pizza shop on Lancaster with a gunshot wound to the buttocks, police said.

Police took that teen to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was listed in critical condition.

Officers at 61st and Jefferson Streets stopped a 21-year-old man who fit the description of one of the shooters, Walker said. The man also had been shot, and police took him to the Penn hospital with a graze wound to the back, Walker said.

Police also had a second person in custody.

Overbrook High was placed on lockdown until about 5 p.m., Gallard said.

He said about seven varsity baseball players were on the field getting ready to practice when the gunfire broke out. None was hurt.

Detectives were trying to piece together the events leading to the gunfire. "We're not sure what sparked the fight," Walker said. "We know it was a fistfight that turned into a gun fight."