(From left) Police Commissioner Thomas Carter, Mayor Wanda Williams, City Council member Ralph Rodriguez, Harrisburg School District Superintendent Eric Turman and police Lt. Kyle Gautsch, at a press conference.
Harrisburg officials have vowed to double down on the city’s efforts to prevent violence, following a weekend shooting involving youth.
At a Monday morning press conference, Mayor Wanda Williams, along with Harrisburg Police Bureau and other city officials, addressed a Sunday afternoon shooting, which left three children injured.
“When is enough enough?” Williams said. “Now we are talking about children who are on the streets playing, and I want to say today that we are not going to tolerate this.”
On Sunday at 3:30 p.m., police were dispatched to the area of N. 18th and Regina streets to investigate reports of shots fired. Officers first located an 11-year-old girl who was shot in the abdomen. She was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, but after surgery, is in stable condition and expected to recover, according to Lt. Kyle Gautsch.
Shortly after the girl was found, police were advised that a 3-year-old boy was shot, sustaining a minor wound in his leg. Police were then made aware that a 13-year-old boy had also been shot. Both victims were taken to the hospital and are expected to recover as well, Gautsch confirmed.
According to Gautsch, police believe that the 13-year-old may have been with someone who was possibly the intended target, when the shooters, who were on foot, began firing in the area. They do not believe that the 11- or 3-year-old were intended targets. Police currently believe that there were two shooters involved.
“The type of person that does that—that’s just horrible,” Gautsch said. “I think there’s probably a lot of us that have children and are parents. I envision my own children on the street when something like that happens.”
The investigation is currently ongoing, Gautsch said.
However, police officials shared that they are feeling hopeful that progress will be made based on the amount of community and witness assistance on the case. Neighbors were helpful in speaking with police and several tips have been submitted to the Harrisburg CRIMEWATCH website.
“It’s reassuring to see that the community is not willing to tolerate children being shot in our streets,” Gautsch said.
Williams shared that the bureau has deployed around 30 to 40 additional police officers, along with help from other agencies, as part of a saturation detail in the community following the incident.
City officials also plan to meet in the coming days to discuss an action plan to address preventative measures, she said.
The bureau received over $3.3 million in grants from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency in December 2022 to purchase gunshot detection technology and video doorbell cameras for homes in high-crime areas, among other technologies. These initiatives are still in progress and have yet to be implemented, according to Police Commissioner Thomas Carter.
Carter also shared that the police bureau has increased its presence in the community this year, as it has worked with other agencies to get additional officers on the streets.
“We’ve been out there constantly,” he told TheBurg. “We’ve been out there so much that I am depleting the public safety budget because of this mess.”
Referring to Sunday’s tragic shooting, Carter said that the bureau will find those responsible.
“We are going to bring the noise,” he said.
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to contact the Harrisburg Police Bureau at 717-558-6900. Tips and information can also be submitted via the CRIMEWATCH website.
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