What we know about Philadelphia's deadly mass shooting
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Benjamin Franklin Parkway leading to City Hall in Philadelphia. Photo: Jumping Rocks/Contributor via Getty Images
Three people have been killed and at least 11 injured in a mass shooting in Philadelphia on Saturday night, according to police.
Why it matters: A spate of recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, have rocked the nation, bringing the national conversation around gun violence and gun control back into the forefront.
Driving the news: Gunshots initially rang out during an altercation around 11:30pm in the heart of South Street's popular hub of bars and restaurants, police said during a press conference Sunday.
- Police found several people shot in the street and sidewalk when they arrived.
- Moments later, an officer identified a man shooting a handgun into a large crowd. The officer shot several times at the man, likely hitting him, before the man dropped his weapon and fled the scene, according to police.
- At least five different guns were used in the mass shooting, two of which were recovered, police said.
Between the lines: The tragedy may have been the result of a physical altercation between one of the men who died in the shooting and another man who was shot, Philadelphia Police Department commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
- "These individuals eventually began firing at one another, with both being struck, one fatally," the city's top cop said.
- "Several" other shootings occurred in the area around the mass shooting, but whether they are all connected remains unknown, Outlaw said.
Of note: Police had intelligence prior to the shooting that led them to increase patrols in the South Street corridor, as well as other places in the city, "to try to prevent an incident like what occurred," Philadelphia police deputy commissioner Joel Dales said.
- Increased patrols also were in the area due to numerous events happening in the city that day and large crowds, Outlaw said.
What they're saying: "The events that transpired last evening on South Street are beyond devastating. Once again, we see lives lost and people injured in yet another horrendous, brazen and despicable act of gun violence," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney wrote in a Twitter thread.
- "Until we address the availability and ease of access to firearms, we will always be fighting an uphill battle," he added.
- "Boycott NRA lobbyists, boycott NRA donations, and bring real common-sense gun regulation to Pennsylvania," Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner tweeted Sunday morning in reference to the National Rifle Association.
The big picture: Last week, President Biden laid out his agenda for gun control legislation in the wake of recent mass shootings.
- A bipartisan group of mayors nationwide urged Senate leaders last week to take action on gun control legislation.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details from the Philadelphia Police Department.
