Two wounded, officer injured in separate South Philadelphia incidents

Two violent incidents two hours apart yesterday in a depressed South Philadelphia neighborhood between Point Breeze and Grays Ferry left a police officer with serious injuries and a 9-year-old boy fighting for his life.

Police had no immediate indication that the two incidents were related, but the proximity to each other was hard to ignore, authorities said.

The first incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. near Tasker and Taney Streets. Initial reports were that a gunfight between rival gangs ended with an 18-year-old man being shot in the leg and hip, and the 9-year-old wounded in the chest and foot.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said the boy was rushed in a police cruiser to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and immediately taken into surgery. His condition was described as "critical."

The young boy, identified as Cameron Pernell, who lives nearby in the 1500 block of Bailey Street, ran home leaving behind a small Nike sneaker with a bloodied bullet hole in the tongue and a pair of gloves. His name was not available.

The teenager, who police identified as Rashem Hill of the 1500 block of South 26th Street, was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Vanore said police found multiple bullet casings at the scene, and investigators were trying to piece together what happened, but could not find any witnesses, and no weapons were recovered at the scene.

A couple of hours later, a resident out on the street using Scotch tape to fix a side window of his minivan that had been blown out by the night's gunfire talked briefly with a reporter.

"It's crazy. We're out of here tonight," the man, a 29-year-old who did not want to give his name, said emphatically. "I can't do it anymore. I have kids to think about."

He said he has two children, ages 5 and 2.

At a nearby market at 27th and Tasker Streets, one of the workers said two gangs had been fighting in the neighborhood for years.

"It's been going on for a long time, years," he said. He, too, did not want to be identified. "They're young kids, 13 to 19. They're killing themselves."

The second incident happened about 8:05 p.m. a couple of blocks away, at 26th and Dickinson Streets.

Police said it began when officers stopped a Ford Taurus that had blown through a stop sign there.

As the officers were getting out of their vehicle, the motorist, who had been heading north on 26th Street, put his car in reverse and floored it, according to officers at the scene and a civilian witness.

The Ford struck one of the officers, identified as Jacarr Goodmond, and pinned him against the police cruiser.

Police spokesman Vanore said the officer, his partner and a backup officer who had arrived at the scene fired their service weapons at the driver, but missed. Police said the officers fired five shots.

At that point, the driver got out and tried to run away, and the vehicle continued rolling until it crashed against a concrete Jersey barrier surrounding an empty lot about a half block away.

The driver, described as a 46-year-old man from the neighborhood, was soon captured and was in custody last night.

Goodmond was taken to HUP with hip injuries and possible internal injuries, police said. He was listed in stable condition.