North Philadelphia shooting leaves man, 27, in critical condition

A shooting in North Philadelphia Monday night left a 27-year-old man fighting for his life.

Just before 7 p.m., police were called to Sergeant Street near 12th in North Philadelphia for the report of a person shot. When they arrived, they found the victim inside a house on the block suffering from gunshot wounds to his arm and back, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

Officers found the scene of the shooting around the corner outside the Beirut Grocery store at 12th and Huntingdon streets. Small said the victim was taken by medics to Temple University Hospital, where he was in critical condition around 9 p.m.

At least eight shell casings, marked by police with rings of pink sidewalk chalk, littered the sidewalk and street just outside the corner store where the shooting happened. Neighbors walked in and out of the grocery store around yellow crime-scene tape, many shaking their heads at yet another shooting in the violence-plagued neighborhood.

"It's crazy out here," one woman said, adding that she lives about a block away. "My kids aren't even allowed out here."

Small said both Beirut Grocery and a Chinese takeout on the northwest corner of 12th and Huntingdon have exterior surveillance cameras that detectives would check for footage of the shooting.

Police were unsure what motivated the shooting, and it remained under investigation late Monday night.