ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Three people were shot and killed in a span of about seven hours from Thursday night to early Friday in Allentown, officials said.
About 6:40 p.m. Thursday, police responded to a report of a shooting in the area of the 500 block of N. 4th Street, according to a news release from Allentown Police.
- Three people were shot and killed between in a span of seven hours in Allentown
- One man was killed by gunfire Thursday night and a double fatal shooting was reported on the city's East Side early Friday
- The city's mayor rallied with anti-gun violence activists at the state Capitol on Thursday
Darnelle Thompson, 39, of Allentown was the first victim to be identified Friday afternoon by Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio.
Thompson was pronounced dead at 7:08 p.m. Thursday at Lehigh Valley Health Network's Cedar Crest Campus.
After an autopsy, Buglio said the cause of death was gun shot wounds to Thompson's body and the manner of death is homicide.
Buglio said Thompson's death is still under investigation by Allentown Police and the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force.
On Thursday, officers found a man suffering from gunshot wounds and he was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township, where he died, an earlier release explained.
Hours later, two people were killed by gunfire on the city’s East Side.
Police say they responded about 1:40 a.m. to the 100 Block of E. South Street, where officers say they found two adult males with gunshot wounds.
According to a release, responding officers provided first aid but both victims succumbed to their injuries.
Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that individuals were trying to open car doors of parked vehicles when confronted by a nearby resident. An exchange of gunfire took place between the resident and one of those individuals and both were fatally struck.
Buglio ruled the cause of death as homicide for both victims, but said he would not release identification of either victim to allow the families to grieve privately.
Both incidents are being investigated by the Allentown Police Criminal Investigations Division and the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force as well as the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.
Anyone with information about the incidents or who may have witnessed the incidents is asked to call the Allentown Police Criminal Investigations Division at 610-437-7721, or make an anonymous tip through the Allentown Police Tip411 app.
Continued violence
A rash of gun violence across the city earlier this year prompted residents to voice frustrations to Allentown City Council.
On New Year’s Day, officers responded to the East Side Youth Center, where a shooting left four adults injured.
On Jan. 22, officers were dispatched to 1038 Union Blvd for a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they found a 28-year-old female with a gunshot wound.
The victim, Blessing Taveras, died at a local hospital, and police also located a second victim at an area hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.
On Feb. 10, a city police officer fatally shot a gunman during a foot chase at Eighth and Linden Streets downtown.
Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin later announced the officer was justified in the shooting, saying Officer Zane Struss was acting to protect himself and members of the community when he exchanged gunfire with Xavier Arnold.
Arnold, 20, had assaulted another man and refused orders to drop his handgun moments before his death.
Mayor, local legislator respond
In a statement released by his office Friday, Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said he was "sad to see the loss of life" in the city.
"My heart goes out to the mothers of children of those we lost and I understand the fear and frustration felt by our neighbors. We are hurting, but I trust Allentonians to find a path to healing."
Tuerk was among those rallying Thursday in The March For Our Lives at the state Capitol, marking the fifth anniversary since its inception after the 2018 shooting that killed 17 students and staff at a Parkland, Florida, high school.
Hundreds gathered on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg, coinciding with similar rallies at state Capitols in Florida, Michigan, California and Texas.
Anti-gun violence advocates displayed black-and-white photos of gun-violence victims while saying the names of those who had died.
The event's organizers also called for various pieces of legislation, including a ban on assault weapons, and another designed to punish gun owners who sell guns to criminals by requiring them to report lost or stolen firearms.
In his statement, Tuerk said "the malignant presence of illegal guns is a toxin in Allentown" and asked legislators to join him in getting guns off the streets.
"The Allentown police department has taken over 350 guns off the street since the beginning of 2022, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly can help by passing laws mandating the reporting of gun theft, improving background checks, and enacting extreme risk protection orders.
Our health and safety are bound together, and we can be better when we help each other," he said.
State Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Lehigh, said the shootings were becoming all too common.
“We must do more at the state level to stem the tide of gun violence," Siegel said in a statement released from his office. "This week, the House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on this very topic, and I offer my full support to these efforts, which include reporting ‘lost or stolen’ firearms, requiring child-proof gun locks, and expanding background checks to include the sale of long guns.
“Additionally, we must ensure that adequate state funding is provided for mental health treatment because that often is associated with gun deaths."
Statewide, there were 924 shooting fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2022 and 2,589 nonfatal shooting victims, according to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
