Boy, 14, shot during fight in University City
By STEPHANIE FARR Philadelphia Daily News A 14-year-old boy was critically wounded this weekend when a fight that started inside an arcade ended with real gunfire on the streets of University City. About 11:10 p.m. Saturday, cops were called to the University Family Fun Center, at 40th and Spruce streets, for a report of a fist fight among young men there, Southwest Detectives Lt. John Walker said. It's not clear what started the fight, but cops were able to get the 20 to 30 kids, ranging in age from 12 to 17, out of the arcade and disperse them, Walker said. But shortly after, at 40th and Market streets, as the kids were walking toward public transportation, another fight broke out, and someone pulled a gun and started shooting, Walker said. Cops nearby heard four or five gunshots, and a 14-year-old boy, whose identity has not been released, approached a uniformed officer and told him he'd been shot in the arm, police said. Cops could see blood running down the boy's sleeve, but it wasn't until he was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania that it was discovered that he'd been shot twice in the arm and that one of those bullets entered his side and collapsed his lung, Walker said. He was taken into surgery immediately and remained in critical condition yesterday. Police have been unable to speak with the victim because he has been sedated, Walker said. Police said that there are a lot of surveillance cameras in the area and that they are going through the tapes looking for what sparked the second fight and who fired the shots that hit the teen.
