04-09-2011, 07:56 PM
*sigh* Police said the illegal drug trade was the source of much of the violence, while others have blamed easy access to firearms.
Phila.Inquirer
A spray of gunfire Friday night at a teen party in Chester that killed one and sent eight to the hospital left neighbors bemoaning the escalating violence in the Delaware County city.
"The city's becoming a war zone," said James Johnson, who has lived for 20 years across the street from the Minaret Temple No. 174 at the corner of West Fourth and Ward Streets, where the shootings took place in a rental hall.
The Minaret Temple, a Mason hall, is often rented out for parties, but "not like that," said Thomas, who has lived on the block for eight years and said it is normally quiet. "They make it seem like a bad area around here, but it's not," Thomas said, referring to the city's teenagers who use guns to settle differences.
Few details were available Saturday about what happened inside the two-story red brick building that houses the Minarat Temple.
Police said early Saturday morning that a suspect in the shootings, which occurred around 11:30 p.m. Friday, was in custody, but provided no further information.
None of the victims, including the one who died, were identified by police. They said two others were in critical condition and six were in stable condition.
Jerry Dort, an investigator with the Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office, said he could not release any information because he had not heard from the family of the teenager who was killed.
Phila.Inquirer
A spray of gunfire Friday night at a teen party in Chester that killed one and sent eight to the hospital left neighbors bemoaning the escalating violence in the Delaware County city.
"The city's becoming a war zone," said James Johnson, who has lived for 20 years across the street from the Minaret Temple No. 174 at the corner of West Fourth and Ward Streets, where the shootings took place in a rental hall.
The Minaret Temple, a Mason hall, is often rented out for parties, but "not like that," said Thomas, who has lived on the block for eight years and said it is normally quiet. "They make it seem like a bad area around here, but it's not," Thomas said, referring to the city's teenagers who use guns to settle differences.
Few details were available Saturday about what happened inside the two-story red brick building that houses the Minarat Temple.
Police said early Saturday morning that a suspect in the shootings, which occurred around 11:30 p.m. Friday, was in custody, but provided no further information.
None of the victims, including the one who died, were identified by police. They said two others were in critical condition and six were in stable condition.
Jerry Dort, an investigator with the Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office, said he could not release any information because he had not heard from the family of the teenager who was killed.