Philadelphia's First Mass Shooting Of 2024 Leaves Two Dead

Philadelphia's first mass shooting of the year occurred early Sunday morning. The tragic incident left two dead and four others injured.

This latest shooting comes days after the Perry High School shooting that occurred in Iowa earlier this month. Law enforcement officials have stated that Dylan Butler, who was a student at the high school, killed an 11-year-old boy and injured seven other people when he opened fire in the cafeteria of the school.

Now, just 14 days into the New Year, Philadelphia has seen its first mass shooting of the year.

Early Sunday morning, police responded to an incident at an allegedly illegally-operating speakeasy inside a home in the city's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

According to Philadelphia Police Department Captain Christopher Bradshaw, the incident happened just before 1 a.m. local time.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found three men who were suffering from gunshot wounds. A 53-year-old man, who was shot in the head, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 41-year-old man, who was shot in the chest and thigh, was taken to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead around 1:13 a.m. just minutes after he arrived at the emergency room.

The third man, a 42-year-old man, was shot in the hand. He was also taken to a nearby hospital and is currently in stable condition, according to police.

A 22-year-old female was also left injured after she was shot in the right leg, along with a 28-year-old man who was three times in his leg and hip.

Additionally, a 33-year-old woman was shot twice in her left arm. All three of these victims are believed to be injured in this incident, per police, and have been taken to local hospitals and are currently in stable condition.

Philadelphia Police Department Captain Christopher Bradshaw told NBC News that the gunman is believed to have fired at least ten shots during the shooting, as they found ten shell casings on the highway.

No arrests have been made and a motive is still under investigation.

Earlier this month, a 17-year-old high school student killed one and injured many others after he opened fire at Perry High School in Iowa. As the investigation continues, the suspect, Dylan Butler, is believed to have warned he was ‘gearing up’ for his ‘plan’ on Discord, a social media platform.

Messages were shared on the Discord app from the username, “took2much”, which is believed to have belonged to Dylan, just moments before the shooting. According to reports, some of those messages read, “I’m f—— nervous. I’m [in] the bathroom gearing up.”

Another message allegedly stated, “There’s a n—– in the bathroom. I need him to leave, so I can assemble my guns.”

A spokesperson for Discord released a statement claiming that the social media platform had taken action against accounts and content believed to have belonged to the suspect, meaning the accounts have been suspended.

It is suspected that these messages were shared by Dylan from the school bathroom moments before he entered the cafeteria and opened fire.