Police found multiple shooting victims at a schoolyard of the James G. Blaine School, located in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion section, at about 5:52 pm Thursday. Authorities then transported six people to area hospitals, five of them children, and one being a 31-year-old woman who was shot twice and is in stable condition.
A 2-year-old girl, 13-year-old boy, 15-year-old boy, and two 16-year-old boys were shot at the schoolyard. All are in stable condition and are seeking treatment at area hospitals, police said.
A 17-year-old boy was also grazed by a bullet and was transported by Uber to a local hospital. He is listed in stable condition, according to police.
Firearms injury is the leading cause of death for people under the age of 24 in the US, according to reports.
According to a study by the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, mass shootings in the US account for 73 percent of all incidents and 62 percent of all fatalities in developed countries, more likely involving “foreign-born perpetrators, ideological motives, fame-seeking motives, schools, open spaces, and handguns”.
Pertinently, the US is the only country with more civilian guns than the population – 120 guns for every one hundred Americans – as per the Small Arms Survey (SAS), as per a Swiss research project.