PHILADELPHIA - Concerns about gun violence are mounting for residents in two Philadelphia neighborhoods where police say teens were injured in shootings that involved attempted car thefts.
Carlian Burns lives near the intersection of 24th Street and Ridge Avenue where police say a 16-year-old old and an 18-year-old were shot during a suspected car theft Friday morning."It’s wild because something is always happening," Burns said.
Both shooting victims were found by police and taken to Temple University Hospital where the 18-year-old who suffered multiple gunshot wounds was placed in critical condition. MORE LOCAL HEADLINESHours earlier, police in Philadelphia's Tacony section said a shootout erupted in broad daylight when the owner of a Toyota sedan caught two teens attempting to steal the car.An 18-year-old was shot multiple times in the exchange of gunfire with the vehicle's owner, who police say is licensed to carry a firearm and is cooperating with the investigation.
The second suspect who was inside the driver's seat when the gunfight erupted managed to drive the stolen car about a block before he crashed and fled on foot, according to police. "I feel like we're living in the Wild, Wild, West right now, with no laws and no honor," Sherron Weeks said.