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Gunfire erupts at teenage party, killing two people and injuring eight others.
CHESTER — The shootings at a teenage party that killed two people and injured eight others have residents of a suburban Philadelphia city once again decrying the recurring violence that prompted the mayor to declare a state of emergency last summer
“The city’s becoming a war zone,” said James Johnson, who has lived for 20 years across the Chester street from the scene of the shootings at the Minaret Temple No. 174.
Police said nine people were taken to Crozer Chester Medical Center after the 11:30 p.m. Friday shootings. One died soon after arriving and another died Saturday afternoon. Three others still hospitalized Sunday were listed in stable condition. A 10th person was treated at another hospital.
Johnson’s neighbor, Bernadette Thomas, had to use a garden hose Saturday to wash blood from her sidewalk. One of the victims had sat on her porch step before being taken to the hospital.
“It’s just got to stop. It’s got to stop,” Thomas told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Meredith Thomas said she had just returned home from a party when the gunfire erupted.
“I just came in the house and I heard the shots,” she said Saturday. “It was right across the street. I heard 12 shots. Some people said they heard 13. I know I heard 12. When you heard it the second time, that’s when you see all the kids was running.”
Police have reported no arrests in the shooting deaths, saying one person was taken into custody on weapons charges. Police Chief Darren Alston told the Delaware County Daily Times on Sunday that one person connected with the party had been arrested on charges of risking a catastrophe and assault after an alleged fight with officers. KYW said another person was arrested on similar counts.
The county medical examiner’s office has not released the names of the victims pending notification of relatives.
Last summer, Mayor Wendell Butler declared a state of emergency and a 9 p.m. curfew was imposed in problem areas of the city, which has nearly 40,000 residents, after shootings left four people dead in eight days. The city, about 15 miles south of Philadelphia, ended the year with two dozen homicides.