Police: Transgender victims in paintball attack targeted in other incidents

As police continued on Friday to hunt for the perpetrators of drive-by paintball attacks in West Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations was responding to several transgender victims who reported that they had been targets of other recent incidents of harassment.

Four transgender women were sitting on the porch of a residence in the 5000 block of Woodland Avenue late Thursday afternoon when they were fired on with a paintball gun from the driver's side of a passing dark-colored Hyundai Azera, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. Believing the shots were gunfire, the women dove for cover. One was hit in the body twice, a second was hit in the body once, and a third was hit with paint spray.

The women told police later that someone had thrown an M-80 firecracker that exploded near their feet on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a person who works at the house was waiting at a nearby trolley stop when someone threw firecrackers at her.

Walker said the Human Relations Commission will assess what has been going on involving the residents of the house and the neighborhood in the last few months, and will work to improve understanding in the community.

Police initially believed the vehicle in the attacks was an Infiniti, but new video surveillance showed the vehicle to be an Azera, Walker said. Police believe there were four occupants in the vehicle.

The first victims of the drive-by paintball attacks were a man and woman at 42nd Street and Baltimore Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday. They were not hit directly, but the woman was hit by paint spray.

Those victims then saw the occupants of the Hyundai fire at two other people.

After the attack at the house on Woodland, the Hyundai made a U-turn and then the shooter fired at two more people about 100 yards from the house, Walker said.