Four people shot, including a mother and her two children, after a man fires into a graduation party in North Philly
Police believe the shooting at 2300 North Lambert Street stemmed from a verbal dispute between parents and a driver of a black SUV that almost struck children playing football minutes earlier.
Four people, including a mother and her two children, were critically wounded in a shooting Thursday night after a gunman fired at least 10 bullets into a graduation party in North Philadelphia, police said.
Family and friends had gathered that evening with balloons and streamers on the 2300 block of North Lambert Street to celebrate their kids’ completion of a summer school program. Children were playing and running down the block when suddenly, around 9:40 p.m., a man wearing a mask and armed with a 9mm handgun started shooting toward them, police said.
A 36-year-old mother was shot in the back and buttocks, while her 12-year-old daughter was shot multiple times, from the stomach to her legs, police said. The woman’s 11-year-old son was struck in the stomach, police said.
A 45-year-old man was also shot twice in the arm, police said.
The four victims were rushed by officers to Temple University Hospital, where they remain in critical but stable condition Friday, police said.
Investigators believe the shooting may have stemmed from a verbal dispute between parents on the block and the driver of a black SUV, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.
Children were playing football in the street when the SUV sped through and nearly struck them, Vanore said. The adults exchanged words with the driver before he sped off, he said.
A few minutes later, Vanore said, a man wearing a mask and dark-colored clothing walked west on Dauphin Street before turning onto Lambert Street and firing multiple shots toward the children and families. The shooter fled on foot, he said.
Vanore said detectives are searching for the SUV and reviewing surveillance video from the area to trace the gunman’s movements before and after the shooting.
On Friday morning, the block was a shell of the celebratory scene it had been the night before. One neighbor said he had seen balloons, streamers, and banners adorning the block the prior afternoon. But come Friday morning, he said, the homeowner was pulling them down as hazmat crews swept up the bloodshed.
Mark Anthony Thomas, 60, was seated under a canopy at 22nd and Diamond Streets Friday morning, reflecting on what could have motivated the shooter to target young families. Thomas said he had spent 23 years in prison for killing someone years ago, and understands what it’s like to make a decision that forever changes lives.
“You can’t take back what happened,” he said.
It’s a message he’s tried to relay to young men who’ve crossed his path since he came home.
“You’re a teacher and a learner,” Thomas said. “From the day you’re born until the day you die.”
Thursday night’s shooting comes as violence in the city has reached a near 50-year low — but as young people and children continue to make up a greater overall portion of the city’s shooting victims, according to police data. In 2015, kids under the age of 18 accounted for 6% of gun violence victims, but last year, they made up 13%, the data shows. Through mid-July of this year, the number sits at about 12%.
So far in 2025, at least 71 kids under the age of 18 have been shot in the city, according to the data.
Nine have died. Among them are Ethan Parker, 12, who was shot and killed after his teen neighbor mishandled a gun and fired it, and Rasheid Lynch, 15, who was shot multiple times, then pushed out of a car and left to die on a Mayfair block.
Staff writer Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.