19 people charged in connection with gang violence and murders in Philadelphia, authorities say
Nineteen people connected to Philadelphia street gang violence were charged in connection with several shootings and homicides in the city, prosecutors and police announced Wednesday.
Members of the Young Bag Chasers, or YBC, Campers Campers Klapperz, or CCK, and Parkside Killers, or PSK, were among those charged, Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Anna Walters said during a press conference.
Two other people associated with the groups or individuals in the gangs were also arrested, Walters said.
The arrests stem from a yearslong police investigation into rival gangs in South, Southwest and West Philadelphia and their music-making ventures that sparked years' worth of retaliatory shootings.
Arrests were made in connection with the homicides of Tajee Brooks, Kamier Scott, Shariff King, Zyer Stafford and Quadir Cheeks.
Additional shootings connected to the arrests resulted in dozens of victims who were between 5 and 42 years old, according to prosecutors. In total, prosecutors said there were 35 victims. The alleged shootings happened in the street gangs' neighborhoods and across the city between 2022 and 2024, they said.
Prosecutors said the suspects would produce music videos, allegedly bragging about shooting people in what's known as "drill rap." They said the motives were ego and arrogance.
Investigators saw a pattern where gang members or groups would commit a shooting and then have one of their rappers make a music video for it, Walters said. The feuding gang would then retaliate and make a video as well, the ADA said.
"I think it's horrific what they've done with music in Philadelphia," Walters said. "Philadelphia is known for its drill rap, in which people are bragging about these horrible acts of violence, and I think what we need to see is you cannot brag about violence, you cannot make music about violence that you've committed without consequences here."
Prosecutors said the members would post the music videos on YouTube, where they then made money from them.
"This is arrogance. This is, I'm going to go out and do a shooting and then I'm going to mock you. I'm going to mock you, and it's going to perpetuate that violence, right?" Assistant District Attorney William Fritze said. "It becomes cyclical because then the people who see, who are friends with the victim who was shot, want to retaliate.
"So, we go back and forth about this bragging rights, right, that you were able to pick up a gun and pull a trigger," Fritze added. "That's nothing to brag about. It does not take many brain cells to pull a trigger. They shouldn't be bragging about that, but what they're doing is causing more violence on the street as a result."
Fritze said some of the suspects were already in custody and the rest were arrested Wednesday morning. Philadelphia Police Capt. James Kearney said law enforcement executed five warrants, including one in Indiana County and another in Absecon, New Jersey, around 6 a.m.
Investigators have "several" outstanding arrest warrants for others involved in the alleged violence and more arrests will come at a future date, Walters said.
Police and the DA's office have charged and arrested members of street gangs in the city in the past, including YBC and another street group, Fastbreak.
In September 2024, 16-year-old Aiden Waters was charged with killing YBC ringleader and rapper Abdul Vicks in North Philadelphia. Waters was also charged in two other shootings, including another murder. District Attorney Larry Krasner previously said Waters was a member of Fastbreak. Court documents show that in February 2025, Waters was charged with two other murders — one in January 2024 and another in February 2024.
One of the inmates who escaped from Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center in May 2023, Ameen Hurst, was also a member of the Young Bag Chasers, Krasner previously confirmed. Hurst was at PICC in connection with four homicides. He was sentenced in November 2024 to 55 to 100 years for the murders and his prison escape.
