(ALLENTOWN, Pa.) — A 1-year-old boy and a woman were killed and six other people were wounded in a streak of unrelated shootings that erupted in Allentown, Pennslyvania, over the weekend, according to police.
The toddler’s slaying marked the 295th child 11 years old or younger killed in shootings in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks shootings nationwide.
At least three shootings unfolded in Allentown in a streak of gun violence that began Friday night and spilled over into early Saturday morning, according to Capt. Daniel Gross of the Allentown Police Department.
The string of shootings began about 8:42 p.m. on Friday when police responded to reports of gunfire in the northeast section of Allentown, Gross said. When officers arrived at the scene, they found three victims, including the 1-year-old boy and two adults, suffering from gunshot wounds, Gross said in a statement.
The victims were taken to area hospitals, where the child and a 44-year-old woman were pronounced dead. A 66-year-old man was also shot and taken to a hospital in life-threatening condition, Gross said.
Lehigh County Coroner Dan A. Buglio told LehighValleyLive.com, a local news website, that the woman killed in the triple shooting was the toddler’s grandmother.
The names of the victims have not been released.
No arrests were immediately announced and a motive remained under investigation.
As police were investigating the triple shooting, gunfire broke out at about 9 p.m. Friday several blocks away, Gross said. Two adults, a man and a woman, were found on the street with gunshot wounds and taken to a hospital in serious condition, Gross said.
Gross said officers arrived at the scene quickly and arrested a suspect identified as Demitrius Bashir Campbell, 23, of Allentown.
“Based on the subsequent investigation, it was determined that this actor and an unidentified co-conspirator fired several rounds at the victims, striking them,” Gross said.
The second suspect remained unidentified and at large Sunday, according to police.
Campbell was booked at the Lehigh County Jail on charges of attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering and carrying a firearm without a license, according to Gross.
At 2:25 a.m. Saturday, three additional people were shot in northeast Allentown, according to Gross. Officers found one of the victims at the scene and two other men, linked to the same shooting, showed up at a hospital later with gunshot wounds, Gross said.
The three victims are expected to survive, Gross said. No arrests were announced in the early Saturday morning shooting.
While all three shootings occurred in the same general area, Gross said police have found no evidence linking them.
“I awoke this morning like many members of our community, sickened, angry and heartbroken over another night of senseless violence in our city,” state Rep. Josh Siegel said in a statement released Saturday. “I offer my sincerest condolences to the families afflicted by last night’s shootings, and I stand with the many Allentonians who are tired of watching their neighborhoods and streets be stained with the blood of gun violence.”
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