Investigators are examining surveillance footage and shell casings after the early-morning shooting also struck a home and two parked vehicles.
PHILADELPHIA — Police are reviewing surveillance video and ballistic evidence after more than 25 shots were fired on a North Philadelphia street early Thursday, wounding an 18-year-old man and sending bullets into a nearby home and two parked vehicles.
Officers responded shortly after 4 a.m. Sept. 10 to the 1500 block of Cambridge Street and found more than 25 spent shell casings scattered across the roadway and sidewalk, police said. Officers initially found no shooting victim at the scene, but they discovered evidence that the burst of gunfire had struck two unattended vehicles and a residential property.
About 30 minutes later, authorities learned that an 18-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his leg had been found on the 1400 block of Poplar Street, near the original shooting scene. Medics took him to Temple University Hospital, where police said he was listed in stable condition. The man told investigators that he had been shot in the area of Cambridge Street.
The wounded man told police he believed he had been struck by stray gunfire and was not the intended target. Investigators had not confirmed that account. Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said detectives were examining why the man was found about a half-hour after officers first reached the shooting scene. Police also said the 18-year-old lives in West Philadelphia and did not live near the block where the shooting occurred.
Investigators have obtained surveillance footage from cameras along Cambridge Street. Police said the available video appeared to show a male wearing a dark sweatshirt and jeans, along with what may have been white and red shoes. He was last seen heading west on Cambridge Street on foot. Detectives were working to determine whether one person or multiple people fired the shots.
Ballistic testing of the recovered shell casings was pending as investigators worked to establish how many firearms were involved. Police had also not determined whether the wounded man was deliberately targeted. Those questions remain central to the investigation because officers found the shooting scene before learning that anyone had been injured.
The gunfire also created a close call inside a nearby home. Police said a bullet entered through a front living room window and traveled above a resident who was lying on a couch before becoming lodged in a wall. Five adults and two teenagers were inside the property when officers checked the home. None of them was injured.
No arrests had been reported, and police had not announced a motive as of Friday. Investigators were continuing to review surveillance footage and ballistic evidence while trying to identify whoever fired the shots and determine whether the 18-year-old was the intended target.
Author note: Last updated September 11, 2026.