Fourth of July Shooting as Philadelphia Man Gunned Down in His Car

A botched robbery spiraled into violence in Philadelphia when a teenage gunman attacked a couple with a baby in their car on Independence Day.

The horror unfolded as the pair were getting into their vehicle in the early hours of Monday near the popular family spot Penn's Landing.

The child had been safely seated in the backseat, but the woman accidentally dropped her cell phone as she and the male victim were about to get into the front seats at 12:30 a.m.

Philadelphia police said a group of nearby teenagers saw her drop the phone and lunged to grab it before she could pick it up. As they all scrabbled for the phone, the woman got a hold of it, but one of the teens opened fire at her. He missed and hit the man in the shoulder instead. Despite the hail of bullets raining around the car, the child was unharmed.

Police said the woman drove the man, who is said to be in his 30s, to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for treatment. Officers described his condition as "stable."

It later emerged the victim was licensed to carry a gun, but he made the split-second decision not to return fire and start a shootout because of the baby in the car.

Witnesses told police at least five shots were fired by the teenage attacker, according to local news channel ABC 6. Chief Inspector D. F. Pace told the station: "What makes this particularly problematic is we have a situation here where not only do we have a gunshot victim, an adult male, and also a female, his companion, who were on location who also could have been a gunshot victim, but we also have an infant in the car. And we're very thankful that that young person is safe."

The shooting happened on the Chestnut Street Bridge above Columbus Boulevard, and the suspects were seen fleeing from the scene. No arrests have yet been made, but officers are hopeful CCTV cameras located around the bridge will help them identify the suspects.

Newsweek has reached out to Philadelphia police for further information.

The shooting comes just a day after a 5-year-old was killed in a drive-by shooting in Houston that also left an 8-year-old injured.

In 2021, the Fourth of July weekend was the most violent weekend in the U.S. that year, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which compiled data from cities across the country showing hundreds of injuries and deaths over a 72-hour period. Roughly 233 people were killed in the U.S. and hundreds more were injured from 5 p.m. Friday through Monday, according to the data. Newsweek has reached out to GVA for data on this weekend's gun crime.

Besides a spike in shootings, other common injuries this time of year include wounds caused by fireworks accidents. A Miami man was seriously injured early Saturday during a Fourth of July weekend celebration when his hand was blown off by a firework.