Police are searching for three suspects in connection with the mass shooting in Philadelphia’s Grays Ferry neighborhood that left three people dead and nine others injured early Monday morning.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said the shooting occurred on the 1500 block of South 27th Street just before 1 a.m. Late Monday night, Philadelphia police released a video of three suspects on Ring surveillance who remain at large.
Philadelphia Police Department
Police said nine victims were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and three others were taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. One additional victim walked into the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s Pavilion Campus. Bethel said at least eight of the victims were taken by police.
Bethel said among the injured shooting victims, two of them were juveniles and both are expected to survive.
- Victim #1: 23-year-old Zahir Wylie sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m.
- Victim #2: 19-year-old Jason Reese sustained a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m.
- Victim #3: 24-year-old Azir Harris sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the back. He was pronounced at 2:16 a.m.
- Victim #4: A 21-year-old male sustained gunshot wounds to the buttocks and ankle.
- Victim #5: A 17-year-old male sustained a gunshot wound to the left arm.
- Victim #6: A 24-year-old male sustained a gunshot wound to the left arm.
- Victim #7: A 19-year-old male sustained a gunshot wound to the left arm.
- Victim #8: A 23-year-old female sustained gunshot wounds to the left elbow, left thigh and right calf.
- Victim #9: A 15-year-old female; it is unknown where she was shot at this time.
- Victim #10: A 17-year-old male sustained a gunshot wound to the left arm.
- Victim #11: An 18-year-old male; the location of where he was shot is unknown at this time.
- Victim #12: A 19-year-old male sustained two gunshot wounds to the head. He was transported to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, then transported by ambulance to University of Pennsylvania Hospital, where he is currently listed in critical condition.
Police said another victim went to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia but was not shot and only injured from falling to the ground while running away.
Bethel said officers had already responded to the same block late Saturday night into early Sunday. Police made arrests during that earlier incident and continued to monitor the area throughout the weekend. Officers then returned on Sunday after receiving reports of loud music. While responding to a separate incident nearby, officers heard gunfire and rushed back to the block.
Bethel said he believes there were around 40 individuals who may have been present at the time of the shooting. He added that there may have been an exchange of gunfire, and dozens of shell casings were recovered from the scene.
Police said one person was taken into custody with a weapon, though their role in the shooting is unclear.
The police commissioner said investigators believe a switch, which makes a gun automatic, was involved in the shooting. Nearly 140 pieces of ballistic evidence were found at the scene, Bethel said.
Bethel described the incident as part of a violent Fourth of July weekend in the city, which saw six homicides and numerous shootings.
“As you know, the July 4th holiday, both in Philadelphia and across this country, in particular in our urban centers, have been very challenging,” Bethel said, “but we remain resolute in our work.”
Over the weekend, eight people were injured after a shooter, possibly multiple shooters, opened fire at a South Philadelphia nightclub. Early Monday morning, four people were shot on the 6100 block of Vine Street in West Philadelphia.
“We will not go back to the times when we had 560-plus homicides,” Bethel said. “That is not happening.”
Bethel says the city remains down more than 12% in homicides and 10% in shootings year-over-year. He added that the department’s Homicide Unit has a 95% clearance rate, while the Shooting Investigation Group has cleared 36% of its cases.
The police commissioner said South Philadelphia has had the fewest shootings in 2025 compared to other parts of the city.
But the two mass shootings over the weekend made up half of South Philly’s total gun violence for 2025.