Another Violent Night In Philadelphia Leaving Behind 'Tsunami Of Pain,' Turning Neighborhoods 'Into Cemeteries'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After yet another violent start to the weekend in Philadelphia, activists tried to appeal to the community to turn in guns to get them off the street, no questions asked, while community leaders in one neighborhood rallied for change.
After a night of rampant shootings in the city, leaving a teenager dead, neighbors came out Saturday in an effort to take back their streets.
Community stakeholders knocked on doors and offered support after a 28-year-old man was shot in the stomach while on the front porch.
"It needs to step, it needs to stop," one woman said. "For the past five nights, there have been shootings in this perimeter."
It's not just 59th and Master Streets.
Between Friday and Saturday nights, 18 people were shot and one woman was stabbed. Two people were killed, including a teenager.
"We need to stop what's happening," Chantay Love, with Emir Healing Center, said. "The tsunami of pain, the tsunami of violence, this bloodshed that's happening. Because our neighborhoods have now turned into cemeteries."
On Friday night, just before 9:30 p.m., shots rang out on the 2200 block West Harold Street on the highway, striking a 17-year-old boy once in the chest. He was rushed to Temple University Hospital but was pronounced soon after.
That was one of two shootings Friday night. An 18-year-old man was shot nine times. He's still listed in critical condition.
By 1:15 a.m. Saturday in Kensington at the intersection of Jasper and Westmoreland Streets, a 41-year-old man was shot four times in the left leg and twice in the right leg.
Within an hour on the 100 block of Lippincott Street, a 28-year-old man was shot once in the back.
By daylight at North 9th Street and West Sedgley Avenue, a double shooting occurred, leaving a 22-year-old woman shot once in the right shoulder and three times in the left leg. The second victim, a 32-year-old woman, was shot once in the left arm.
This afternoon, a 19-year-old man was shot in the lower left leg. A private vehicle transported him to the hospital but left before the police arrived. Police say the victim is not being cooperative.
Losing loved ones to gun violence is a pain shared by far too many Philadelphians.
"I lost my son to violence. He got shot 26 teams," one woman said.
Community group City of Dreams teamed up with rapper Beanie Sigel to create a music development program where young adults will get paid to learn about their culture through a social music network.
"We're trying to build more recreation centers, more studios because we know out here, everybody loves music," he said.
In an effort to get guns off the streets, there were two gun turn-in events in the city on Saturday.
People could safely dispose of their firearms at Jane Memorial United Methodist Church and Tasker Street Missionary Baptist Church with no questions asked.
"Since we had 103 children shot so far this year so we would be very happy to getting any gun off the streets today," Bilal Qayyjm, with Father's Day Rally Committee, said.
More than 40 guns were collected at Saturday's gun turn-in events, including 33 handguns and 10 long guns.
The next event is set for Aug. 29.
For a list of gun violence resources in Philadelphia, click here.
