16-Year-Old Fatally Shot On Way To School As Police Investigate 3 Other Shootings
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- A student was shot and killed while walking to school in Chester, Delaware County, Friday morning.
While police search for 16-year-old Zion Abdullah's killer, they're investigating a series of other shootings that happened just hours apart in the same neighborhood.
The deadly shooting and other gunfire prompted a lockdown at nearby Chester High School.
"From our accounts, a good kid," said Chester Police Chief Jim Nolan. "Goes to the high school, was a football player from what I understand."
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Authorities believe Zion, a high school football player, was simply walking along 11th Street on his way to school when he was shot.
"This is a horrendous loss of life," said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan. "This is devastating that a 16-year-old child could be walking to his high school and be gunned down."
"And so first, I want to make sure we provide condolences to the parents and the family of the young man who lost his life this morning," said Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland. "He should be sitting in a classroom. He should be bettering himself academically, but, unfortunately, he is not."
The deadly shooting happened at 7:58 a.m. Within four hours, authorities were called to three more shootings nearby, including an officer-involved shooting.
All the gunfire nearby forced the high school to be on lockdown all day.
"Starting next week, I'm going to start dropping them off and picking them up because it is unsafe out here," said parent Louie Cruz.
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Police believe the first shooting with the 16-year-old is unrelated to the other shootings, so that is a separate homicide investigation.
However, the other three shootings appear to be connected to each other. At least one person is in custody connected to those shootings.
