Three dead, nine injured in Grays Ferry shooting, police say

Three young men were killed and nine people were wounded after more than 110 bullets were fired into a crowded block party in South Philadelphia early Monday morning, police said.

Dozens of young people had gathered on the 1500 block of South Etting Street on Sunday night for the second time in as many days. After friends and family had come to the area Saturday night for a memorial for four young men who had been shot and killed in recent years, people returned Sunday to continue the festivities, according to neighbors and law enforcement sources.

But suddenly, just before 1 a.m. Monday, gunfire erupted on the small block lined with rowhouses, sending teenagers and others running in a panic, diving onto porches and inside homes. Video from the scene shared online showed people piling on top of one another and taking cover — while at least six people who were armed stood up and fired their guns indiscriminately down the block toward the sound of gunfire. The video showed at least one gunman who appeared to have a switch on his gun, a device that allows a firearm to shoot at a faster rate. The gun was firing so quickly he appeared to struggle to maintain control of it.

Officers who rushed to the scene found 12 people, including three children, suffering from gunshot wounds, police said.

» READ MORE: Young father and paralyzed gun violence survivor among those killed in Gray’s Ferry shooting, family says

Among them was Azir Harris, a 24-year-old who was paralyzed after having survived a shooting seven years ago. Harris was shot multiple times in the back, and though he was rushed to the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, he died shortly after 2:15 a.m., police said.

The mother of Harris’ 1-year-old son was among those wounded, Harris’ father said.

Late Monday night, police identified the other two men who were killed: Zahir Wylie, 23, of Overbrook, who was shot in the chest; and Jason Reese, 19, of West Philadelphia, who was shot in the head.

The wounded ranged in age from 15 to 24, and include a 19-year-old man who remained at the hospital in critical condition after being shot twice in the head, police said.

Others injured, police said, include:

The shooting capped a violent holiday weekend in the city, during which 43 people were shot from Friday through Monday morning — a staggering number that comes as the rate of shootings in the city this year has declined dramatically, reaching a near-record low.

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said that the motive for the shooting remained under investigation but that detectives had recovered video and had “significant leads” toward identifying those who were responsible.

“This is coward stuff,” Bethel said. “Just individuals, just shooting randomly, into houses, into cars, children out here. I mean, this is coward, wannabe thug stuff.”

Police had already been deployed in the neighborhood, the commissioner said, following reports of loud music in the area. Officers had left the block briefly to respond to a nearby call when the shooting erupted, he said.

Residents of the tight-knit block said they were concerned as they watched the party grow in size, until more than 100 people were outside.

“When the party gets crazy, that’s usually when the shooting starts,” said Tiffany McDaniels, 27, a mother of three who lives on Etting Street.

McDaniels said she rushed to protect her sleeping children as she heard the gunshots ring out overnight. As the gunfire subsided, she said, she peeked outside her door.

Lying on her front steps, she said, was a young girl who appeared to be unconscious with a bloody leg. A young man, also covered in blood, was on the front step of a neighboring home, she said.

The lingering trauma of the night remained clear Monday afternoon. Puddles of blood coated the sidewalk and steps of homes. A pair of black slippers and a bloody rag were strewn across the street.

Crime-scene crews, residents, and community organizers from the neighborhood gathered Monday and started to clean up the aftermath, sweeping sidewalks, scrubbing dried blood, and picking up empty bottles of tequila and red cups still filled with mixed drinks.

Tyrique Glasgow, founder of the Young Chances Foundation at 27th and Tasker Streets, which provides after-school support, sports programs, and mentorship for young people in South Philadelphia, stood by a table of food, toys, and educational materials that he would be distributing to families on the block where the shooting took place.

Glasgow said he was angry and frustrated to see that young people he knew and loved, like Azir Harris, were among those shot and killed.

Still, he said, he wanted to highlight the resources available for the South Philadelphia community — and those holding it together in the aftermath.

“I understand what happened last night, but it’s really about understanding what we did yesterday and are doing tomorrow,” he said.

The South Philadelphia shooting was one of many over the holiday weekend with multiple victims — early Saturday morning, a knife fight-turned-shootout at the 7 Elements lounge in South Philadelphia left eight people injured.

And as police responded to the Etting Street shooting, four people, ages 18 to 22, were shot near 61st and Vine Streets in West Philadelphia just before 2:30 a.m. Monday. The victims were rushed to nearby hospitals, where their conditions were not immediately clear, police said.

Bethel said the weekend’s violence is not representative of the state of the city.

“This has been a very challenging weekend,” he said Monday. “Folks are going to wake up and hear about a lot of the incidents happening, but we are not going back. We are going to continue to stay focused on these areas that have significant levels of violence.”

Staff writer Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.