In Philadelphia, this past Memorial Day served not just as the unofficial start of summer but also as an ominous reminder of just how perilous the season can be.

In the waning hours of the holiday, just before 10:30pm, gunfire erupted in a crowded patch of Fairmount Park, a popular gathering spot with skyline views, leaving two dead and nine wounded. Two young people — a 23-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man — were killed. The nine other victims ranged from age 15 to 28; six were teenagers.

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The attack was so loud it sounded like warfare, officials said at a news conference in City Hall the morning after the carnage. “When … you can empty a 20-clip magazine in seconds, it is meant to kill, to create carnage, and to hit as many people as possible,” said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel. “And in this case, it was able to do that.”

Despite the mass shooting, the officials pledged that Philadelphia will not regress to the record-breaking numbers of shootings it faced during the Covid pandemic, when gun violence claimed more than 500 lives for two years in a row.

“The statistics show that … if I don’t wrap my arms around my boys, the chances of them surviving in the city of Philadelphia are very, very slim.” — Kenyatta Johnson, Philadelphia City Council President

“We are not going back to those old stats. That means we need all hands on deck,” Mayor Cherelle Parker said. “We will not be held hostage.” She noted that this year, the City is spending $25 million on anti-gun violence initiatives, including a slate of summer employment and learning programs to support young people living in difficult circumstances.

“Parents, caregivers, we know that this is not an easy job,” she said. “I know it’s tough. We have to know where our young people are.”

“We’re doing this because of how we are surrounded.”

City officials and gun violence prevention organizations have been focusing on youth violence mitigation as they prepare to face the elevated levels of shootings that often come with warm weather. The city was already grappling with an uptick of shootings committed by young people.

In April, The Trace reported that as shootings in Philadelphia have declined, the number of juveniles charged in fatal and nonfatal shootings rose, with 26 juveniles charged with homicide last year, up from eight in 2020 and three in 2016.

At a recent City Council budget hearing, a group of teens told lawmakers about the plight many of the city’s youth face. The teens participate in programming at the EMIR Healing Center, a nonprofit organization that helps people who’ve been traumatized by violence; EMIR is an acronym for Every Murder Is Real.

“Us, as young people, are already suffering from killing other people, going into gangs, and breaking and entering and all sorts of other crimes,” said Xavier Williams, a 10th grader at Imhotep Charter High School. “We’re doing this because of how we are surrounded, people that we are surrounded by, and how we were raised up.”

Citing The Trace’s reporting, Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson highlighted the rise in teen gunmen during an April 28 Peace Not Guns Roundtable, and again during a mid-May news conference he convened to introduce 20 new members of the Council’s Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention. The group, Johnson said, would embrace a new focus: addressing the root causes behind the uptick in teens wielding firearms.

Those causes, he speculated, could include food insecurity, leading young gunmen to commit robberies to feed themselves. “Since 2016, the number of Philadelphia juveniles charged for homicide — that’s young people killing people — has increased nearly ninefold,” said Johnson.

Johnson has a personal connection to the problem. As a 16-year-old, he said, he was arrested on a gun possession charge. Now, he’s a father. “I’m raising two Black boys in the city of Philadelphia,” he said. “The statistics show that … if I don’t wrap my arms around my boys, the chances of them surviving in the city of Philadelphia are very, very slim.”

Reaching people before they pull the trigger

In 2017, then-City Council President Darrell Clarke, Councilmember Curtis Jones, and Johnson introduced the resolution creating City Council’s Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention with the mission of better coordinating the city’s response to the crisis.

The Committee’s work has resulted in the City’s budget providing hundreds of millions in grant money to community organizations focused on mitigating shootings. That move, said Johnson and other officials, helped reduce shootings. Despite cuts to federal funding, Johnson says he expects those investments to continue in the 2026 budget, which takes effect July 1.

“The time is now for us not to rest on our laurels, because even though the numbers are down, sometimes you don’t feel it at the end of the day,” Johnson says.

“Summer jobs provide structure, and of course, money in your pockets. But we also recognize that our young people need spaces to process and heal.” — Susan Slawson, Parks and Recreation Commissioner

City Councilmember Cindy Bass, who also serves on the Committee, says she drew inspiration from Trenton, NJ, which recorded zero homicides in the summer of 2022, a feat that prompted her and other Philadelphia lawmakers to visit New Jersey’s capital to take notes.

“We can do it here in the city of Philadelphia. It requires the coordination of all of our departments, all of our services, all of our resources,” Bass says. “When we give young people something to do, some place to go, some place to be, a mission and a purpose, we can do something about gun violence.”

In that vein, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner says his office’s next round of microgrants will be awarded to community groups providing summer camps, mentoring for girls, trauma healing services, and those engaged in gun violence intervention. The grants range from $5,000 to $50,000 and are funded by drug money the office has seized. Last year, Krasner says, the grants awarded $1.2 million to 28 groups.

“We will try to get that money out there while the sun is still high,” he says. “We’ll try to do that in June or July to hopefully continue this Philadelphia trend that is in the direction of safety. Hopefully, we can reach some people long before they pull the trigger.”

“It’s A Summer Thing”

While scientific research has suggested numerous reasons for why violence rises during hot weather, the effect in Philadelphia is not in dispute. In 2024, the two months with the most shootings were June, with 120, and July, with 118, according to City data. By comparison, the two months with the fewest shootings were March, with 77, and September, with 80.

But after the Memorial Day shooting, City officials are acknowledging how perilous the coming months can be — especially for teenagers. To address that reality, they are touting a host of educational and employment opportunities under the banner, It’s A Summer Thing.

“Nothing can be more frustrating than hearing someone say the City of Philadelphia doesn’t offer programs for our young people,” Parker said during an April news conference.

Career Connected Learning will offer young people ages 12 to 24 paid, hands-on, work-based learning experiences; the Summer Achievers Program gives rising elementary and middle school students access to camp-style activities, math and reading help, and field trips.

The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation has set goals of hiring 400 young lifeguards and 400 pool maintenance attendants, who will earn $16 to $18 an hour.

“These are more than just summer jobs; they are a key part of our City’s efforts to make sure that our young people are safe,” Parks and Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson says. “Summer jobs provide structure, and of course, money in your pockets. But we also recognize that our young people need spaces to process and heal.”

City officials are calling on businesses to help keep teens productive. “We need everyone’s help,” says Adam Geer, the city’s first Chief Public Safety Director. “If you’re a business owner and you were thinking about hiring someone, take a chance. There might be a young person who needs that job and it may change their life.”

The City is also attempting to boost their security. Bethel says the Philadelphia Police Department is shifting more officers to pools and rec centers for the summer. Police, he added, will enforce the city’s curfew of 9:30pm for those 13 and under, and 10pm for youths ages 14 to 17.

“This is when it gets busy for us,” he says.

He noted that juvenile homicide deaths were down 38 percent last year, and are down nearly 50 percent this year.

“So stop looking at the glass half empty and look at it half full,” he says. “We can talk about the negatives but we are making a difference.”

Mensah Dean is a staff writer at The Trace. Previously he was a staff writer on the Justice & Injustice team at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he focused on gun violence, corruption and wrongdoing in the public and private sectors for five years. Mensah also covered criminal courts, public schools and city government for the Philadelphia Daily News, the Inquirer’s sister publication.

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