5 killed, 2 injured in Kingsessing mass shooting; 2 in custody: police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Five men were killed and two others were injured in a mass shooting Monday night in Kingsessing, police said.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said two people were taken into custody following the shooting, which happened near 56th Street and Chester Avenue around 8:30 p.m.
The men killed in the shooting were 20, 22 and 59 years old, and there was a John Doe they couldn't identify, Outlaw said.
RELATED: Police identify victims in deadly Philadelphia mass shooting in Kingsessing
Before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, a 31-year-old man was found dead in a home on 56th Street with gunshot wounds.
"We believe that this homicide is related to the sextuple shooting of the six individuals earlier," Chief Inspector Scott Small said overnight. "So we believe … this is now a seventh victim, and he would be the fifth person to be shot and killed."
The other two injured in the shooting were juveniles -- a 2-year-old and a 13-year-old. They're both stable, Outlaw said.
"Horrified by the reports of a shooting in Southwest Philadelphia," Mayor Jim Kenney wrote in a tweet. "My heart is with the loved ones and families of everyone involved, and I send my prayers to the victims."
As police were flagged down to 56th and Chester Avenue, Outlaw said officers heard gunshots at 56th Street and Kingsessing Avenue and found shell casings.
While on Kingsessing, police then heard more gunshots coming from the 1800 block of Frazier Street, according to Outlaw.
Outlaw claimed that's when officers found a male suspect and chased him from Kingsessing Avenue to Frazier and Springfield Avenue. She said the man was shooting a weapon during the chase.
"Had it not been for the quick actions of those officers and the supervision that was out there on the scene, had it not been for their bravery, had it not been for their courage, we may have seen more lives lost out there," Outlaw said.
The suspect was taken in custody without incident in a rear alley on the 1600 block of Frazier Street. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, had multiple magazines in his vest, a scanner, an AR-style rifle and a handgun, Outlaw said. She added she believes the shooter is 40 years old.
At some point, another person got a gun and returned fire in the direction of the shooter, Outlaw said. That person is also in custody, however, their connection to the shooter was not immediately clear to police.
A total of three guns were recovered, Outlaw said, adding that 50 spent shell casings were found at the scene and several vehicles were hit by gunfire
Kenney said Tuesday that the dealer who sold guns to the man involved in a mass shooting "should be sued until they're out of business."
It's unclear what led to the shooting. The incident is under investigation.
"We work very vigilantly to ensure that people are brought to justice, we're working very closely with our law enforcement partners to see how far this will go," Outlaw said. "I pray that the trauma does not continue on in these neighborhoods and that we will be resilient, we'll remain optimistic that this will not happen again in our beautiful city, and as we move into our Fourth of July celebrations we will do it with compassion, but we'll do it with a sense of hope and solidarity."
The Kingsessing shooting and other mass shootings from Fort Worth, Texas to Baltimore, Maryland sparked a statement from President Joe Biden.
Biden also remembered one year since a shooter killed seven people and injured dozens more at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
