Two teenagers have been arrested in relation to the mass shooting that occurred on South Street on June 4 that left three people dead and 11 more injured by gunfire.
The District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday that two men, Qaadir Dukes-Hill and Nahjee Whittington, both 18, were apprehended in Richmond, Virginia earlier today by US Marshals and are in the process of being charged in the deaths of two people during the shootings.
Philadelphia Chief of Homicide, Joanne Pescatore said Dukes-Hill will be charged with the murder of Alexis Quinn and Whittington will be charged with the murder of Kristopher Minners as well as the shooting of another male who was struck in the knee. She said video evidence suggests Dukes-Hill and Whittington responded to the original shots by shooting their weapons into a crowd, killing the two innocent bystanders.
“It does not appear that these groups knew each other,” Pescatore said. “This seems to me that Mr. Whittington and Mr. Dukes-Hill, in response to gunshots that were happening down the street, took out their guns and randomly fired.”
Earlier this week, the District Attorney’s Office announced the arrests of Quran Gardner, 18, and Rashaan Vereen, 34, for their roles in the shooting.
Garner was charged with four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of assault of a law enforcement officer, a pair of weapons-related offenses, and other related offenses.
Vereen was charged with attempted murder, conspiracy, aggravated assault, obstructing administration of law, tampering with evidence, and other related offenses.
According to authorities, the deadly mass shooting began when an altercation between three men escalated into gunfire. Gregory Jackson and Micah Towns, who were both licensed to carry, exchanged gunfire which killed Jackson. Towns, who was critically wounded, was not charged in the shooting because he acted in self defense, according to the DA’s Office.
Pescatore said it is believed that there were no additional suspected shooters.
“There is no other ballistic evidence to indicate that,” Pescatore said. “The crime scene is two blocks long and they are long blocks. The detectives on this case did a phenomenal job.”
Krasner also thanked the Police Department, ATF and the US Marshals for the collaboration on the case. He said new information is still welcomed during a complex investigation. Anyone with information can call 215 686-TIPS(8477) with information or the PPD Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
“Obviously it’s an ongoing investigation and it’s possible that additional information could change our view on some of these things,” Krasner said. “But that is how it appears based on all the evidence that we have at this time.”
Krasner encouraged residents to not live in fear.
“Obviously this is a great city,” Krasner said. “It’s a great city where we are choosing not to simply submit to fear and stop living. But I fully understand that when an incident like this occurs, when we have this repeated level of extreme violence going on with guns, it has an impact on the entire city. It’s traumatizing for the entire city. What I have to say is this is a city that is scrappy, it’s a city that is resilient. It’s a city that fights back. That’s what Philadelphia has always been.”
