A birthday party for a dead friend in a Pennsylvania cemetery ended in tragedy after a man was left fatally shot, according to the local district attorney.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Daniel Elijah Hawkins, 29, from Philadelphia, was shot dead at the Whitemarsh Memorial Park, in Ambler, on March 18.
Steele said Horsham Police were dispatched to the cemetery, some 16 miles north of central Philadelphia, after reports of shots being fired at about 3:04 p.m.
When officers arrived, they found Hawkins dead and Arian Davis, also of Philadelphia, 33, seriously injured.
Steele added: "Davis was transported to Abington Hospital and is being treated for injuries to his jaw, hand, and leg. Detectives processing the scene [said] that more than 30 shots had been fired.
"A joint investigation into the death has been launched by Montgomery County Detectives and Horsham Police.
"The initial investigation found that a large group of people were at a 'birthday celebration' in the cemetery at the grave of Tyrek Fairel, who was shot and killed in 2013 in Norristown."
Fairel died on July 4, 2013, from a gunshot wound to the head.
Steele did not comment on whether anyone had been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a database that collects information about shootings from across the country, one person has died in Ambler this year.
The same database found that 148 people have been fatally shot in Pennsylvania since January 1 this year.
Anyone with information about the fatal shooting has been asked to contact the Horsham Police Department at 215-643-8284 or call Montgomery County Detectives at 610-226-5553.
Anonymous text tips can be submitted using MontcoCrimeTips on the STOPit! app. The STOPit! app can be downloaded for free from the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids, then use code MONTCOPA to get the Montgomery County version of the app.
Newsweek has contacted the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office for comment via email.
There have been numerous shootings in Pennsylvania covered by Newsweek this year.
In January, a teenager was killed in a "targeted" shooting that took place inside a movie theater in the Hazel Township, of Luzerne County.
Police determined the 19-year-old man was struck by gunfire in the arcade/ lobby area of the cinema.
In February, an 18-year-old man was charged with murder after a Temple University police officer was shot and killed near the campus.
Miles Pfeffer is alleged to have shot officer Christopher Fitzgerald, 31, in the head following a robbery.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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