Early Wednesday morning, a 38-year-old man was rushed to the hospital after he was shot in the head in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
According to Fox29 Philadelphia, police and medics rushed towards shots that erupted around 3:15 a.m. They found the critically injured victim lying in an alley on the 1000 block of Appletree Street, the shooter having fled.
Police called the wounds ‘nonsurvivable,’ as Fox29 Philadelphia reported. The victim remains unconscious under intensive care.
Shortly before the shooting, the victim left a club with two friends, and went around the corner into the alley, Appletree Street. Losing sight of their friend, they told police they heard an argument, then a gunshot.
From a neighboring property on Appletree Steet, another witness also reported hearing the gunshot, and seeing a group of possibly men or “juveniles” flee the scene, according to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, quoted by NBC Philadelphia.
Per CBS News, the victim was rushed to Jefferson University Hospital for treatment. Detectives are canvassing the security cameras in the area to help with the investigation.
No one has been apprehended in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and the motive remains unknown, but Philadelphia police say they have good leads.
The shooting comes only months after another man was critically injured in a drive-by shooting in the same neighborhood in May, reported on by Fox29 Philadelphia, resulting in the shooter’s arrest not long after.
One Chinatown local told Fox29 that she was shocked at the tragedy of the shooting and hesitant to come into work, as she had to stay in a parking lot adjacent to the crime scene.
Another complained about local government, saying “You don’t expect this [to] happen, any day, any time, it’s no control ever since they took out the sixth district.” Philadelphia’s City Council seat for the sixth district is currently vacant.
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