Two men have been arrested in connection with the mass shooting on South Street in Philadelphia, including an 18-year-old man who prosecutors said shot with a homemade “ghost” pistol in a crowd Saturday night and was one of at least four gunmen in the a melee in which three people died and 11 were injured.
Prosecutors say the Koran Garner man fled after he was shot dead by South Street police on Saturday. He approached other officers a few blocks away, shouting, “They shot my arm,” before taking him to the hospital. He is now expected to be charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and related crimes.
Law enforcement sources said police on Monday night arrested a second man, Rashaan Verin, who they said was involved in a brawl that sparked an entire episode of violence. Prosecutors said Verin, arrested in South Philadelphia, went to the aid of an armed man who was shot dead by another man in an exchange of gunfire on Saturday night.
They said Verin pulled the gun away from his dying companion and then melted into the South Street crowd. He is expected to face similar charges as Garner’s faces.
The development came when law enforcement and friends of the victims filled in some of the gaps, but not all, in the story of the chaotic incident.
The shooting attracted national attention as the country was subjected to a wave of mass shootings. And he took more victims than any episode of gun violence in the city for at least seven years, and kept an eye on the relentless shooting crisis in Philadelphia.
District Attorney Larry Krasner called the crime “horrific and pointless.” Assistant District Attorney Joan Pescator, head of Krasner’s homicide department, said the surveillance video showed it began as a spontaneous meeting between two groups of men before the bullets began flying at passers-by.
As gun violence has sparked public outrage here and in other cities across the country, senators in Washington are said to be discussing potential weapons legislation for the first time in years. Mayor Jim Kenny, who attended a national conference of mayors in Reno, Nevada, returned to the city on Monday, although he did not speak publicly about the incident.
Meanwhile, relatives of some of the victims were in the early stages of preparing for the funeral.
Lorraine Quinn, whose 24-year-old daughter Alexis, a home health aide, was killed by what police believe was a bullet wiped out, cried when she remembered her loving and caring child.
“My little girl,” Quinn said through tears during an interview. “My only girl.”
Pescator told reporters at an afternoon news conference that police and prosecutors had reviewed various videos of the scene to try to reconcile the incident.
The videos appear to show a clash between groups of men on Block 200 on South Street shortly before 11:30 p.m., she said. One group included 34-year-old Gregory Jackson, a former professional boxer and youth coach, while the other included 23-year-old Mika Towns, who Pescator also said was a boxer. Both men were armed and had firearms licenses, prosecutors said.
It was unclear what it was about, Pescator said, or whether any of the men knew each other before they crossed paths that night. But the meeting quickly became hostile. Jackson and another man walked toward Towns in a threatening way, Pescator said, and Jackson seemed to pull out a gun.
As Jackson and his friend began beating Townes, pushing him back into a shop window, Jackson fired his pistol, hitting Townes in the body and leaving him critically wounded.
Towns, stationed on the street, managed to retaliate, killing Jackson.
Jackson’s friend then tried to repair his wounds.
Meanwhile, moments later on the other side of the street, when people nearby began to panic, 18-year-old Garner began firing a homemade pistol at the crowd. Garner appeared to have been an ally of Towns before the fight, Pescator said. But the shots he fired came after the fight had almost subsided and it was unclear who he was shooting at.
Amid the chaos, police arrived and a police officer noticed Garner firing his weapon. The officer returned fire, slapping Garner in the arm and causing him to drop his pistol and flee.
Garner fled to Fourth Street and Bainbridge, where some police officers were investigating an earlier incident involving a shootout in which no one was hit. Garner told them he had been shot several blocks away. He was taken to Jefferson Hospital by police.
While all this was happening, at least two other gunmen opened fire on nearby South Street blocks, panicked crowds fleeing the sounds of gunfire, police said. Police believe a maximum of five gunmen could shoot: Jackson, Towns and Garner, and then potentially two others nearby, where officers later found two different types of bullets fired.
A deliberate shot in Block 300 appears to have killed Quinn, said Homicide Captain Jason Smith. She was found dead at the intersection of Third and South Streets.
Christopher Miners, 22, a permanent counselor for second-graders at Girard College, was also likely a bystander, police said. He was fatally shot in the chest.
The survivors ranged in age from 17 to 69, according to police, and their condition ranged from stable to critical.
Pescator said investigators are still awaiting ballistic tests and other evidence to determine which shots hit which victims.
Garner, who police sources said was arrested as a juvenile for charges including theft and possession of a weapon, was expected to face charges including attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Verin will face similar charges, Pescator said. Although he was not charged with gunfire, Pescator said he lied to police while trying to help Jackson after he was shot. The video shows him quietly passing Jackson’s gun to another while he behaved “as if he were not involved,” she said.
Jackson’s friends – including at the Loyal Boyz boxing hall on Haverford Avenue in Overbrook Park – were amazed to hear that he may have initiated an incident that turned into a mass shooting.
He worked with anti-violence organizations in the city and helped raise money for their work, social media shows, often posting videos or photos with his mentees. He was the father of two daughters, ages 14 and 6, and lived in Upper Darby, said John Scarborough, 42, who co-owned the Overbrook Park gym with Jackson.
Court records show that he was also recently charged in a firearm case outside of Delaware County. State police say Jackson drove through a traffic stop in December 2020 while possessing an unlicensed weapon. He was charged with a gun crime in connection with last month’s incident and had to face a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, records show.
It was not immediately clear why charges were apparently brought so months after his arrest.
Jackson’s mother did not call for comment Monday. But Jesse Hart, a middle-class professional boxer who lives in Germantown, said Jackson is a “modest man” who likes to bring young people back to the boxing community.
“When you’re down South Street, you have a duty not to confront, especially when you’re a fighter,” Hart said. “Pride and ego led to the death of a good father and a good fighter.”
David Jones, 34, whose two sons were trained by Jackson, said: “This single situation does not describe this man at all. Spend long nights, early mornings. He did more for these children. “
Krasner said he did not expect to accuse Towns, the man beaten by Jackson, because Towns acted in self-defense and was licensed to carry a weapon. Jackson also had a license to carry, Krasner said. It was unclear how the Jackson firearms case could affect this.
The district attorney said the investigation is ongoing, with police and prosecutors still facing a number of questions, including who the other shooters were and what charges they could face if identified.
As the investigation progressed, some witnesses said they were still struggling to process what they saw.
Ricky James, 41, who filmed the initial brawl, dropped his phone to the ground and fled after shots were fired. “As I bend down and run, I hear bullets pass through my head, hitting the signs in front of me,” he said.
James said he was shot years ago as a younger man and that Saturday’s episode brought back traumatic memories.
He was so scared to return to his home in Sicklerville, New Jersey, that when he left South Street on Saturday night, he parked on the beach – and slept in his car.
Office writers Ryan W. Briggs, Mensa M. Dean, Anna Orso, Kerit Gabriel and Ximena Conde contributed to this article.
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