Shooting at Philadelphia playground leaves 18-year-old from Delaware dead

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An 18-year-old man from Delaware was shot and killed in an ambush on Monday night at a playground in Southwest Philadelphia.

The victim has been identified as Anthony Jerome Sharpe Jr. of Smyrna.

The shooting happened just before 9 p.m. on the 5600 block of Grays Avenue at the Russell DeRitis Playground.

Police say video shows Sharpe sitting near a play area when the gunman walks up and fires at least nine shots.

Sharpe was shot in the head, face, back and torso. He was rushed to an area hospital, where he later died.

The suspect was seen wearing all dark clothing before fleeing the scene.

Officers are checking nearby surveillance video in hopes of learning more about a motive.

"Anytime I hear of any violence, the first initial thing I think of - especially so close to our school - is, 'could it have been one of our kids?'" said Kevin Rosa, who works for the Philadelphia School District's Youth Violence Reduction Initiative.

Their goal is to get ahead of any potential crime that might involve young people.

"At one point this was somebody's dream, to make a safe space for the kids and put resources in getting some of these kids off of these streets," Rosa said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.