A deadly shooting occurred on Saturday, June 4, that claimed three lives and injured 11 on Philadelphia’s South Street.
Shots were fired around 11:30 p.m. Saturday evening near the 400 block of South Street, according to Philadelphia Police Department Commissioner Danielle Outlaw. Normally a hub for weekend destinations, South Street is filled with restaurants, bars and other businesses that many Philadelphians are known to frequent.
That night, an altercation between three young men erupted into gunfire, with the shooters seen firing into a crowd of people. Multiple people are suspected to have been involved in the shooting.
At least 14 were shot, with three people being killed: Kristopher Minners, 22; Alexis Quinn, 27; and Gregory Jackson, 34, who was also the first person to begin the shooting in a fight with a gun he legally carried a permit for, according to the Inquirer. Those injured by gunfire range in age from 17 to 69.
According to the District Attorney’s office, two men—Rashaan Vereen, 34 and Quran Garner, 18—are in custody and have been charged for their connection to the shooting. An arrest warrant has also been put out for a third suspect believed to have shot a bystander, with a reward of $30,000 for any information.
“The events that transpired last evening on South Street are beyond devastating,” said Mayor Jim Kenney in a statement released on Sunday, June 5. “Once again, we see lives senselessly lost and those injured in yet another horrendous, brazen and despicable act of gun violence.”
On June 6, President John Fry sent out a statement to Drexel community members, lamenting the lives lost from the shooting and condemning the rampant gun violence in the city.
“As we begin what should be a week of unalloyed joy of celebrating our graduates, I have the unhappy task of registering our community’s horror and sadness over another fatal mass shooting—this time 3 miles from campus at South and Third Streets late Saturday night—which claimed three lives and left 11 people wounded,” Fry said.
Third year biomedical engineering major Patrick Chapagain lives only ten blocks away from where the shooting occurred and expressed the fear that he and his friends felt that evening.
“What happened Saturday was one of the most terrifying incidents in my life,” Chapagain said. “I was out with my friends, and we usually do go out around that area. It was pure luck we decided to go somewhere else that night.”
Chapagain claimed the atmosphere that night was just like any other Saturday night.
“The only difference on that night was the horrible shooting that happened,” Chapagain said.
This incident, in addition to the increased gun violence in Philadelphia and across the country, has called into question the safety of citizens going about their daily activities.
Mrigna Gupta, a senior Marketing major, had been out with her friends at Morgan’s Pier on Saturday evening when the incident occurred.
“We were waiting outside the bar for our Uber when we heard the gunshots,” Gupta recalled.
“We all just froze and went numb for that time because we weren’t sure of where this was happening or what was happening,” she said. “After a few minutes people just started running all over the place.”
Luckily, Gupta and her friends were able to get in their Uber and leave the area.
“I was petrified and panicked the entire way home,” Gupta said. “I kept on thinking ‘What if something similar happens to us on the way? What if we cross that street? What if they had decided to come to our bar?’”
The deadly shooting sparks a larger conversation about the ongoing gun violence in the city of Philadelphia. According to Philadelphia’s Office of the Controller, there have been 805 nonfatal and 198 fatal shooting victims as of June 8.
“We are bystanders who are just trying to socialize and enjoy our weekends. With these kinds of mass shootings, I am hugely discouraged to even go out at nights,” Chapagain said. “This incident happened on South and 2nd Street, and there is nothing stopping these kinds of events [from happening] right outside my house.”