By Natalia Rueda 
This Monday night, Philadelphia police reported. Two people are in custody. Officers found three firearms after the incident, which police said took place in the city’s Kingsessing residential area. The alleged shooter was identified by authorities as a 40-year-old man. The other person in custody, authorities said, obtained a firearm and returned fire at the shooter. We presume the second person began firing in response to the situation.
Police initially reported that eight people had been injured, but Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told reporters later that evening that there were six victims. Authorities have not yet established a motivation. The victims were all male. The deceased were ages 20, 22 and 59, and one of the dead has not yet been identified, Outlaw said.
The wounded children, ages 2 and 13, are in stable condition, he reported. The suspected shooter was actively shooting as police chased him on foot. He was found wearing a bulletproof vest containing several magazines, police said. He had in his possession an AR-style rifle and a handgun, according to Outlaw. Police found about 50 empty shell casings, Outlaw said. Several vehicles were also hit by gunfire.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) wrote on Twitter that he was “horrified” by reports of the shooting and that his “heart goes out to the loved ones and families of all involved.” “This devastating violence must stop,” he wrote.
As of Sunday, Philadelphia had recorded 212 homicides in 2023, down 19 percent from the same period last year, according to city government data. Monday night’s shooting would be the 29th massacre 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.