At 71, lifelong South Philly resident Tobias M. Sippley has seen his share of violence.
But the string of shootings that began July 5 and ended Monday when bullets found targets just a couple blocks from his home — well, that’s something else.
"It ain’t never been this bad," said Sippley, who lives on the 1800 block of South 19th Street.
The summer of 2002 is shaping up as one of the bloodiest in recent memory, and it could get worse before it gets better. That’s why police have formed a special initiative to investigate the shootings, including 16 in the First and 17th districts. Six of those have been homicides.
South Police Division Inspector Evelyn Heath said the violence may or may not trace back to drug-gang warfare.
"At this time, we cannot say for sure if it’s all drug-related. We’re certainly looking into that. We are doing everything we can to catch these guys and make the community safe again," said Heath.
In the meantime, the casualties are stacking up.
Last Wednesday morning, a lone shooter killed a 29-year-old man as he sat inside his car at 21st and Dickinson streets, police said.
Seventeenth District officers found Gregory Cleveland in the front seat of his 1989 gray Oldsmobile around 11 a.m. The victim, a resident of the 1500 block of South Ninth Street, had been shot in the forehead, neck and throat. A witness told police he saw the shooter fleeing north on 21st Street. The incident occurred right across the street from a day camp.
Police said Cleveland was a former member of a violent street gang called the Young Guns, and had been released from prison about a year ago.
In July, an 18-year-old male riding a bike was gunned down at 33rd and Reed streets. The victim was struck in the chest and killed instantly, said police.
A 12-year-old girl, an innocent victim of the most recent shooting, remains hospitalized. Latasha Davis was struck in the chest and right thumb as she walked out of Luciano’s grocery store at 21st and Sigel streets on Monday around 7:15 p.m., police said. She had gone inside to buy a bag of chips.
Two men in a dark blue Mitsubishi drove up to the corner and opened fire on a 23-year-old male. They hit the male, Malcolm Richardson, and Davis and grazed two other bystanders, said police.
Authorities believe friends of the intended target also were hanging out on the corner, and in a retaliatory move, some drew their guns and fired back at the Mitsubishi as it sped off, said Sgt. Steve Biello of South Detective Division.
The alleged target, Richardson, was hit in the right leg and stomach. Biello said the young man also took a bullet to his artificial left leg. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was treated and released.
Davis, who also was taken to HUP, remains in fair condition. The bullet remains lodged in her lungs and part of her thumb had to be amputated, police said. The other two bystanders, Robert Hamilton and his 12-year-old daughter, were coming out of a corner store when bullets grazed them. Neither sought medical treatment.
Yesterday, chalk marks were still visible in the street, indicating where the 21 bullet casings had landed. Three different-caliber guns — a .9mm, .40 caliber and .45 caliber — were used in the shooting spree, said Biello.
According to police, the explosion of gunfire appears to be part of an ongoing feud between two families. The triggerman in the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi is believed to be from the area of 20th and Mountain or Tasker, while Richardson lives in the neighborhood in which he was shot, said Biello. At press time, police had no suspects and would not confirm whether the incident was related to a drug war.
Sippley, the neighbor from the 1800 block of South 19th, was watching Monday Night Football when the bullets started flying two blocks away. He said he heard nothing; nor did his neighbor who owns a house at the corner of 19th and Sigel streets and declined to give her name.
Sippley blamed changes in society for the escalation in violence.
"Myself, I think it starts at home," he said. "Today, mothers and fathers are younger. They don’t understand that they have to teach their children respect. They don’t respect each other and they don’t respect the neighborhood."
Neither he nor his neighbor said they were scared to live in the area.
Sippley added that he fought in a U.S. Airborne Division in the Korean War. "You gotta leave [this earth]. You ain’t here to stay," he said.
Sippley’s neighbor said she’s noticed a definite decrease in police presence on her street.
Inspector Heath vehemently denied that charge, and insisted there always have been beat cops and squad cars patrolling Point Breeze.
One neighbor who lives a few houses down from the scene of the shooting seemed particularly upset with the media as she chased reporters out of the street.
"They come out here and then they don’t understand why we don’t want to talk to them," she said. "They get to go back to their nice, quiet, safe neighborhoods. They don’t have to worry about being shot. I’m going to be real hostile to the next [reporter] who comes up to me."
Despite the woman’s anger, most residents are feeling fear more than any other emotion, according to police. Law enforcement often has a hard time convincing witnesses to come forward with information, and can even have trouble persuading the victims themselves to cooperate, Heath said.
Believing the summer’s string of shootings needed a special focus, the inspector formed the Violent Crime Initiative a few weeks ago. The mission’s goal is to develop information that will lead to arrests, Heath said. The initiative is comprised of police and detectives who work in concert with narcotics agents, SWAT and highway patrol.
"What we’re trying to do is get information on suspects and find out who shooters are, then procure arrest warrants and arrest them. We will get these guys," said Heath.
The Violent Crime Initiative grew out of the South Division Task Force, which Heath also heads. The task force, made up of a team of officers from each of the four districts, addresses high-crime areas throughout South Philly.
The task force now is taking a hard look at former members of the Young Guns, a notorious 1980s gang. The gang surfaced when crack cocaine was emerging as the drug of choice. Using fear and intimidation, the young men operated out of the Tasker Homes and Wilson Park housing projects, engaging in loan-sharking, shootings and murder, police said.
Fifteen former members either have been released from prison in recent months or are due to be released, said police.
"We’re developing information as to whether these men are regrouping and whether they are involved in any of this violence," said Heath.
Police are seeking the public’s help in solving recent shootings. Callers can remain anonymous. To report information, call 215-686-3015 or 215-686-3013.
