New details are emerging about the south street mass shooting that occurred on in Philadelphia’s Queen Village neighborhood last Saturday night that killed 3 people and injured at least 11 others. Police authorities along with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office are now identifying alleged shooters from the mass casualty incident. We are also learning new details on how authorities think the entire incident progressed. One new chilling detail is truly infuriating. This entire incident is very complex and complicated so we’ll do our best to summarize with the information we have available.
Authorities say the entire incident started when a fight broke out around 4th and South St between 34 year old Rashaan Vereen, 34 year old Gregory Jackson and a man identified as Micah Towns. During the fight with Towns, Vereen and Jackson pulled guns and fired approximately 17 shots. Towns was shot but was able to pull his own gun and fire back at the duo of shooters, striking Jackson at least once. That’s when a friend of Towns, Quran Garner also opened fire in the direction of Jackson and Vereen.
This is when a Philadelphia Police Officer shot Quran Garner, effectively stopping his active shooting. Garner fled the scene but was eventually apprehended at Jefferson Hospital for a gunshot wound to his hand. Jackson did not survive his injuries and was pronounced dead. Micah Towns was legally possessing his firearm and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office says that Towns will not be charged because he fired back in self-defense. Quran Garner was arrested and charged with attempted murder and related charges.
Video of the incident that sparked the shooting. Courtesy of NBC10 Philadelphia
Where this story gets even more tragic is the fact that there were other gunmen in the area. These gunmen, now identified as Quadir Dukes-Hill, 18 and Nahjee Whittington, 17 were initially completely uninvolved in the fight between the men mentioned above. Authorities say that when Quadir Dukes-Hill and Nahjee Whittington heard gunfire in the area, they pulled their own guns and began to indiscriminately fire into a crowd. The results of these shots killed 24 year old Alexis Quinn and 22 year old Chris Minners. Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore is quoted as saying:
“It does not appear that these groups knew each other. This to me seems to be that Mr. Whittington and Mr. Dukes-Hill, in response to gun shots that were happening down the street, just took out their gun and randomly fired. And unfortunately Alexis Quinn was hit by a shot fired by Mr. Dukes-Hill and Mr. Minners was hit by a shot fired by Mr. Whittington,” the ADA said. The shooters did not know their victims and there is no logical motive other than other gunfire in the area that led to these two young men murdering two innocent people and injuring others. Dukes-Hill and Whittington were taken into custody by the U.S Marshals Fugitive Task force in Virginia yesterday morning.
At a press conference today authorities also revealed that at the time of the shooting, Quadir Dukes-Hill was wanted out of Delaware County on a felony warrant relating to the theft of a vehicle in Upper Darby Township.
The 11 shooting victims who survived were a 17-year-old boy; two 18-year-old men; two 20-year-old men; three men aged 23, 43 and 69; two 17-year-old girls; and a 19-year-old woman. Their medical conditions ranged from stable to critical, Commissioner Outlaw said. These victims are believed to be additional unintended victims that were struck by the dozens of bullets being fired in the area by as many as 5 gunmen.
In another surprising development, Steve Keeley at Fox29 reports that there may be a 4th murder victim that has not yet been reported by police. Keeley reports that a mother is saying her 17 year old son, Quamir Jones was shot in the leg on South Street but was able to run away from the scene before eventually collapsing on Broad Street. He did not survive his injuries and his mother says he bled to death as the result of a gunshot wound to the leg. Philly Homicide Detectives are working this case and have not yet stated whether Quarmir Jones will be added to the list of gunshot victims from the mass shooting in the area of 4th and South Street.
Summary of charges as of 06/09/2022
Quadir Dukes-Hill is charged with murdering innocent bystander 24-year-old Alexis Quinn
Nahjee Whittington is charged with murdering innocent bystander 22-year-old Chris Minners
Rashaan Vereen is charged with attempted murder and related charged for opening fire
Quran Garner is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.
Stay tuned with PhillyCrimeUpdate.com for continued coverage of the South Street Mass Shooting.