Authorities in Philadelphia are searching for the suspects in a mass shooting that left two people dead and nine injured in the city’s Fairmount Park.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel announced Tuesday that two adults, a man and a woman, were killed in the incident that occurred Monday night on the 800 block of Lemon Hill Drive, near the Lemon Hill mansion, just before 10:30 p.m.
Police identified the man and woman killed in the mass shooting as Amya Devlin, 23, and Mikhail Bowers, 21, stating that three teens between the ages of 15-17 were among those injured. All of the wounded were reported to be in stable condition, and one other person was taken to the hospital after being hit by a car in the chaos.
Commissioner Bethel said the shooting occurred while different groups of people were gathered in the park, and it’s not clear whether there was an exchange of gunfire involved or if this was a targeted shooting. Police said that three different types of shell casings were found at the scene, with Crime Scene Unit investigators examining the shell casings and get an idea of how many shooters were involved and what caliber weapons they were using. Bethel said: “it’s pretty rapid fire, so we’re pretty confident that there probably was a switch on this gun,” referring to a gun modification that can make a regular semi-automatic handgun fully automatic, capable of firing 17 rounds in under two seconds. No weapons have been recovered and no one has been arrested, police said.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker called the shooting a “heinous act of violence that was inhumane with no regard for human life,” and vowed to use all federal and local authorities to track down those responsible for the deadly gunfire: “this was wartime ammunition that was just opened on Philadelphians and those who were here in our city.”
Lemon Hill and Fairmount Park will serve to host major events this weekend, including the upcoming Roots Picnic, set to be held this weekend at the Mann Center across the Schuylkill River and within Fairmount Park. Commissioner Bethel said that Philadelphia police will have a significant deployment of officers at that event and leaders are confident the event will be safe.
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