(Rayelan found this one, in the Tampa Bay newspaper, from AP).

-----

Seven Dead in Philadelphia Shooting

By Tina Moore

Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Seven people were fatally shot Thursday at an
apparently deserted home in a part of town known for heavy drug activity, police said. Three others were wounded.

Neighbors said four men wearing masks were seen running toward the house, firing weapons. No suspects were immediately arrested and no weapon had been recovered, police said.

Deputy police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said six people were found dead at the home and another died at a hospital.

Another of the wounded was in critical condition, according a spokeswoman at the University of Pennsylvania hospital. A second was listed in serious condition and the third in fair condition.

Police said they did not immediately know whether drugs played a role in the shootings. But a neighbor described the house, about 200 feet away from the Martha Washington Elementary School, as a "drug house."

"It's sad," said Eugene Whiters, who lives a block away from the building surrounded by a dozen dilapidated homes with boarded-up windows, sagging awnings and overgrown lawns littered with fallen bricks.

Outside the home, some neighbors tried to get information about family members who they believed might have been in the house.

"I seen my little daughter running up the street," said a woman who declined to give her name. "She just said some guys ran past her with a gun. I told her to go in the house."

Tina Washington, 44, said she had often pulled young adults off the corner to get them away from drug activity.

"You pray, and you talk to them, and you keep talking to them until you're blue in the face," she said.

It was the nation's second multiple shooting in two days. On Tuesday, seven people were slain at a Massachusetts Internet company, allegedly by a co-worker.

AP-ES-12-28-00 2326EST
© Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Brought to you by the Tampa Bay Online Network

-----