Group of High School Football Players Ambushed by Multiple Gunmen Just After Leaving Practice
A 14-year-old boy was killed in a shooting that took place Tuesday after a high school football scrimmage in Philadelphia.
Four other students were wounded in the incident, which took place at Roxborough High School. No one has been arrested in connection with the incident. Police have neither suspects, nor a motive.
A scrimmage involving three high schools ended shortly after 4:30 p.m., police said. As several players from Roxborough High School walked toward their locker room, shots were fired, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The report said there were four people in the vehicle, and the shooters got out of their car to fire on the players. The Inquirer identified the slain teen as Nicholas Elizalde.
Police said the vehicle used in the shooting was a gray Ford Explorer and estimate 64 shots were fired, according to WPVI-TV. Their report said two shooters were involved.
“What used to be a hand fight is now a gunfight. That was a cowardly act today, to come out and ambush people coming off a ball field. That makes you tough? I think not,” Philadelphia School District Chief Safety Officer Kevin Bethel said.
Three teens were taken to a hospital, according to WTXF-TV: a 17-year-old who was shot in the arm and leg, as well as a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old who were each shot in the leg. They were reported in stable condition. A 14-year-old who was grazed in the shooting did not require hospitalization.
Deputy Commissioner John Stanford said the shooting took place after Roxborough High School, Northeast High School and Boys Latin High School held a joint scrimmage.
There had been no recent incidents involving those schools’ players, Philadelphia Police Capt. John Walker said, according to the Inquirer.
“I am absolutely outraged, I’m shocked, quite frankly I’m a little shaken,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said, WTXF reported. “Schools are supposed to be the answer. They’re supposed to be the answer. We keep kids in schools, so they don’t get involved in shooting.”
“Schools used to be a safe haven for our young people,” Special Advisor on School Safety Kevin Bethel said. “To see that now our young people can’t even come to a scrimmage game and be shot is totally unacceptable.”
Philadelphia has had more than 400 homicides this year, according to WTXF. The Inquirer reported that 178 children have been shot this year, 23 fatally.
There are no words for what transpired earlier tonight. Another young life has been cut short and others injured by needless violence. Tonight, a family will begin to grapple with the loss of their loved one. My deepest condolences go out to them. https://t.co/dHWLV9djnX
— Mayor Jim Kenney (@PhillyMayor) September 27, 2022
“There are no words for what transpired earlier tonight. Another young life has been cut short and others injured by needless violence. Tonight, a family will begin to grapple with the loss of their loved one. My deepest condolences go out to them,” Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted Tuesday night.
Latonya Boyd-Smith, who has a 14-year-old who plays for the Boys’ Latin Charter School junior varsity team, went to the school after learning about the shooting.
“I just want to hold him because I already lost a child to gun violence and this is unnerving to me. This has to stop,” she said, according to WCAU.
“Man, I had to sit down with my son and educate him on what to do when he hears shots or it’s a gun situation,” she continued.
“That’s something I shouldn’t be teaching my 14-year-old son. He’s playing football. He’s being a kid. He’s playing for his school. He’s doing something that he loves, and I gotta teach him that when he’s at a game and something like this happens what he needs to do.”
Roxborough grandparent Tanya Cousar called for action.
“Something needs to be done, and it needs to be done like yesterday because it’s getting very, very dangerous to do even do something like play football. It’s ridiculous. We need some help,” she said.
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