4 dead, 2 children injured in Philadelphia Kingsessing shooting

Police initially reported eight people were shot, but Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told reporters later that evening there were six victims. Authorities have yet to establish a motive.

The victims were all male. The dead were 20, 22 and 59, and one of the victims has yet to be identified, Outlaw said. The injured children, aged 2 and 13, are in stable condition, she said.

The shooter fired as police chased him on foot. He was found wearing a bulletproof vest containing several magazines, police said. He was in possession of an AR-type rifle and a handgun, according to Outlaw.

Police found about 50 cases of used shells, Outlaw said. Several vehicles were also hit by gunfire.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) wrote on Twitter that he was “horrified” by the reports of the shooting and that his “heart is with the loved ones and families of everyone involved”.

“This devastating violence must stop,” he wrote.

As of Sunday, Philadelphia had recorded 212 homicides in 2023, down 19% from the same time last year, according to city government data.

Monday night’s shooting was the 29th mass shooting in the United States this year, according to a tracker maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. The tracker defines a massacre as an incident in which at least four people – excluding the attacker – were killed.