Newsman: A 14-year-old was killed and four other teenagers were wounded after a football scrimmage in Philadelphia Wednesday. Shooting happened outside a Philadelphia high school. Nicholas Elizalde, of suburban Havertown, was killed. The other victims were a 14-year-old shot in the thigh, a 15-year-old shot in the leg, and a 14-year-old who was treated at the scene for a graze to the ankle. The three teens taken to the hospital were listed as stable Wednesday morning.
Police said Wednesday that they are searching for five shooters who ambushed a group of teens outside a Philadelphia high school killing one 14-year-old and wounding four other teenagers after a football scrimmage.
Nicholas Elizalde, was the victim in the ambush as he and the other teens walked away from an athletic field at Roxborough High School authorities said. Philadelphia Police Captain Jason Smith said during a news conference Wednesday that police believe Elizalde was not the intended target of the shooters. Elizalde attended W.B. Saul High School, an agricultural charter school that partners with Roxborough for some of its athletics, including football.
Shortly after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Captain Smith said the shooters sat in a parked SUV for about six minutes waiting for the teens to round the corner behind the school. When they did, five shooters — who Smith said also appeared to be juveniles — got out of the car and began firing. One person remained in the car, Smith said.
“Most if not all of the offenders appear to be juveniles themselves. Nonetheless, they are obviously very dangerous individuals and the need is great to have them identified and taken off the streets as quickly as possible,” Smith said.
One of the shooters chased a 17-year-old victim down the street, striking him in the leg and arm, Smith said. The shooter then stood over the teen and tried to empty his gun, but Smith said he had either run out of bullets or the gun had jammed.
Smith said police were looking into several possible motives, including a fight that occurred in the lunchroom earlier in the day Tuesday. Smith said the 17-year-old, who police say was one of two teens they believe to have been the shooters’ targets, does not attend Roxborough High and is not on the football team with the other victims. Police had earlier said all the victims were members of the football team.
Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, signed an order banning guns and deadly weapons from the city’s indoor and outdoor recreation spaces, including parks, basketball courts and pools just a few hours before the incident.
Mayor Kenney said Wednesday that shootings like the one Tuesday cause “irreparable harm” to schools, families and communities especially when they occur in places otherwise thought to be safe spaces.
“Yesterday’s tragic events outside of Roxborough High School were just unconscionable,” he said. “Now a family is forced to grapple with the loss of a child … after this heinous and cowardly crime.”
