Five high school football players were shot on Tuesday in a deadly ambush after participating in a scrimmage in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania authorities announced the tragic news. A 14-year-old boy was unfortunately killed in the shooting, according to NBC News.
Per the Philadelphia Police, two gunmen were thought to have opened fire on the students after a game at Roxborough High School, killing teenager Nicholas Elizalde. The high school players were walking off the football field when gunfire suddenly erupted from a light green Ford Explorer.
Elizalde was struck in the chest and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 5:09 p.m. Other victims in the shooting included a 17-year-old who was hit three times in the leg and once in the arm and a 14-year-old who was shot once in the thigh.
No suspects identified thus far in Philly shooting
First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford said another high school player suffered a graze wound. Details of the injuries sustained by the fifth victim were not immediately available. Stanford added that no suspect had been publicly identified, and a motive remained unknown for the shooting. The two alleged shooters fled the crime scene on foot, and cops are now reviewing surveillance footage.
Stanford noted that players from three schools had been involved in the scrimmage. The teens were leaving the field following a scrimmage between Northeast High School, Boys Latin Charter School, and Roxborough High School, according to ABC News. All those who were struck attend Roxborough, located northwest of downtown Philadelphia.
Stanford said the two gunmen fired many bullets at the players. He added that the most significant piece of this is that there is a 14-year-old doing what students do, which is having football games at the end of the day. He said it is one of the things they encourage their kids to do.
Another senseless act of violence in Philadelphia
Philadelphia School Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. told reporters he was personally disturbed by the shooting. He added that he is quite frankly angry with this senseless act of violence.
District Attorney Larry Krasner echoed Watlington's sentiments, telling the media he was shaken and outraged by the shooting.
The shooting happened the same day that Mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order banning guns at playgrounds, pools, city recreation centers, and similar facilities, which have recorded 18 shootings thus far this year and 300 since 2019, according to WHYY.
City data showed that more than 1,400 people were struck in nonfatal Philadelphia shootings this year. There have been 400 homicides recorded in the city, a 1 percent drop from the same time last year, which was the city's most violent on record.
