17-year old Philly boy shot and killed by stray bullet

Bernard "BJ" Jamal Scott, age 17

17-year old Bernard Jamal Scott went to watch a fight at a playground next to his high school, in Philadelphia, along with a large group of 50 other kids.

That's when two men pulled out pistols and fired into the crowd.

Bernard was hit in the stomach by a .22 round, and later died in the hospital.

Another 17-year old boy was hit twice in the buttocks, and an 18-year old boy was grazed.

The gunmen escaped, but a 20-year old man was later arrested as the shooter.

From an article and news video with Bernard's mother:

Bernard Jamal Scott, known to his classmates as BJ, wasn’t involved in the Thursday afternoon altercation at Tustin Playground in the city’s Overbrook neighborhood. The 17-year-old was one of many bystanders from nearby Overbrook High School who flocked to the playground to watch the fight. 

“Everybody was following to watch a fight,” a school staff member told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They tweet each other, they get on Instagram– fight, fight, fight.” 

Around 50 spectators had gathered at the playground when the fight took a deadly turn. When one of the fighters began to lose, two gunmen suddenly pulled pistols. Shots were fired into the crowd; three people were hit, including one of the suspected gunmen. Scott was struck in the stomach. 

Local business owner Antoine Gardiner was sitting in his truck at a red light at the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and North 59th Street when he heard three gunshots fired in rapid succession. He then noticed Scott “hunched over all by himself.” Gardiner put the seriously injured boy in the back of his truck and rushed toward the nearest hospital. 

“Hold on, young buck, hold on, young fellow,” Gardiner told the teen. “Just hold on, you’re going to be OK, just hold on, keep breathing.” 

Gardiner told the Inquirer that Scott couldn’t respond. He was groaning loudly, breathing heavily and choking on blood as they arrived at Lankenau Medical Center, a little more than a mile from the site of the shooting. Scott died five hours later. ... 

Scott was described as a popular sophomore. He was enrolled in Overbrook’s JROTC program and wanted to be a video game designer when he grew up. Friends said he was quick to lend a helping hand with school work. He was involved in his first serious romantic relationship.

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