Philadelphia police have announced the arrests of two teenagers for their suspected involvement in a recent Strawberry Mansion shooting that saw 10 people injured.
According to Philadelphia Police Captain of the Central Detectives Unit Frank Banford, the shooting occurred on Saturday, May 20, on the 2500 block of North 23rd Street at about 10:38 p.m., when two men fired 27 times into a crowd of about 30 people who were having an outdoor celebration.
The men are believed to have been targeting one specific individual, said the captain.
The motive for the shooting, he said, sprang from an ongoing argument.
“Both of them were aware they were shooting into a pack of women and children,” the captain said at a news conference on Monday where police officials announced the arrests of Tyrell Broadnax, 19, of the 900 block of W. Arizona Street and Kuadir Burley, 18, of the 1500 block of W. Lehigh Ave. Both have been charged with ten counts of attempted murder.
However, no weapons have yet been recovered, Banford said.
Broadnax turned himself in on Monday, while Burley is currently in custody in a Montgomery Country prison on a separate theft charge, police said.
“They didn’t care who they hit. They didn’t care whatever collateral damage was done,” said Banford. “That meant nothing to these guys.”
Banford said that ten victims were struck during the shooting, though none suffered what he would call “critical injuries.”
“We had some severe injuries – I wouldn’t say critical injuries,” he said.
All of the victims of the shooting have survived, though Banford said one individual was hit in the stomach and needed to return to the hospital for a seven-hour operation due to a lung infection. Banford said that individual is expected to recover.
During the day’s press briefing, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the incident was sparked by an argument that “never should rise to the level of gun violence.”
“These two people were shooting at a bunch of unarmed people,” said Ross. “A cowardly thing to do.”
Banford said he’d hope to work more closely with the community to strengthen a bond with residents in order to allow police to work “in a more preemptive way.”
“I’m tired of talking about stories after the fact,” he said.
