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A devastating mass shooting transformed a community celebration into tragedy early Monday morning in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry neighborhood, claiming three lives and injuring nine others.
The violence erupted around 1 a.m. on South Etting Street when gunmen opened fire on a crowd gathered for a block party, sending over 100 rounds into the packed residential area.
Emergency responders arrived at the 1500 block of South Etting Street to find chaos and multiple casualties. What had been a festive gathering with music, food, and drinks quickly became a scene of carnage as shooters fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
Law enforcement officials later determined that gunmen discharged 112 rounds using at least four different weapons, including 9mm, .40 caliber, .45-caliber, and .10mm firearms.
The scale of the ammunition recovered suggests this was a coordinated attack involving multiple perpetrators who showed no regard for innocent bystanders, including children and teenagers present at the gathering.
Police told reporters they believe the shooters targeted the crowd randomly, firing into homes, vehicles, and the street where dozens of people had congregated.
Video from a Ring doorbell where the shooting took place was shared on social media on Monday. This report is not publishing the video because of its sensitivity, but the footage showed three gunmen firing bullets from a porch, seemingly in response to other gunfire, while the cookout crowd dove to the ground and took cover.
According to police, the attack claimed the lives of three men - ages 19, 23, and 24 - who died from their injuries within hours of the shooting.
The first two victims, including a 23-year-old struck in the chest and a 19-year-old shot in the head, succumbed to their wounds around 1:30 a.m. A third victim, 24 years old, died at 2:16 a.m. after suffering multiple gunshot wounds to his back.
According to Fox 29, one of the deceased was identified as Azir Harris, a 24-year-old father who had survived a previous shooting in 2018 that left him paralyzed and who had become an advocate for gun violence survivors. Harris had come to the neighborhood for what his family described as a community cookout.
Nine additional victims survived the attack, ranging in age from 15 to 24 years old. Among the wounded were five teenagers, highlighting the indiscriminate nature of the violence.
The injuries varied significantly, from a 19-year-old man fighting for his life in critical condition after being shot twice in the head, to others with wounds to their arms, legs, and torso.
A 15-year-old girl was among those struck by gunfire, along with multiple 17-year-old boys.
An additional person suffered injuries while attempting to flee the gunfire but was not struck by bullets.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel expressed outrage at the reckless nature of the attack during a Monday morning briefing, describing the perpetrators' actions as "cowardly" and criticizing their willingness to endanger children and families.
Bethel emphasized that the shooters fired without discrimination, sending bullets into residential properties and vehicles on the narrow street.
Police had maintained a presence in the area throughout the weekend due to ongoing reports of large gatherings and noise complaints, making several arrests related to other incidents.
Officers were responding to an unrelated call in the vicinity when the shooting began, allowing for a rapid response to the scene.
Investigators have taken at least one person into custody who was found with a weapon, though their specific role in the shooting, if any, remains under investigation.
Authorities said multiple shooters participated in the attack based on the ballistic evidence recovered from the scene.
The shooting occurred during what residents described as a continuation of weekend festivities that had begun with a memorial for four young men killed in recent violence.
The gathering had drawn people from across Philadelphia, with estimates suggesting up to 100 individuals were present on the block when the shooting began.
Local resident Tiffany McDaniels, a mother of three who lives on the affected block, described discovering victims on her property in the immediate aftermath, including an unconscious teenage girl with leg injuries and a wounded young man on a neighbor's porch. The scene left lasting trauma on a community already grappling with ongoing violence.
This shooting marked the deadliest incident in what officials described as an exceptionally violent July 4th weekend across Philadelphia. The holiday period saw multiple mass casualty events, including a separate shooting at a South Philadelphia establishment that wounded eight people after a dispute escalated from a knife fight to gunfire.
Within hours of the Grays Ferry shooting, another incident in West Philadelphia left four people wounded near 61st and Vine Streets, demonstrating the widespread nature of the weekend's violence. According to 6ABC, the entire July 4th weekend resulted in at least six deaths and 46 injuries across 15 separate shooting incidents throughout the city.
Despite the weekend's tragic events, Philadelphia officials noted that overall gun violence statistics for 2025 remain below previous years' levels, with the city experiencing what had been characterized as near-record low shooting rates before the holiday weekend.
Commissioner Bethel emphasized that the recent violence would not derail ongoing public safety efforts and that investigators would work to identify and prosecute those responsible for the weekend's attacks.
The investigation into the Grays Ferry shooting continues, with authorities seeking information from community members and analyzing the substantial physical evidence recovered from the scene.
Police have requested that anyone with information about the shooting contact Philadelphia police at 215-686-TIPS.
