Deadly Fairmount Park shooting investigation: Everything we know after 2 killed, 9 injured on Memorial Day

PHILADELPHIA - An investigation continues after a mass shooting occurred at Fairmount Park on Memorial Day, killing two people and injuring nine others.

The backstory:

Officers from the Philadelphia Police Department were called to the 800 block of Lemon Hill Drive around 10:30 p.m. for reports of a shooting.

Police reported that two people were killed and nine others were injured when nearly two dozen shots erupted at a Memorial Day gathering.

Amya Devlin, 23, and Mikhail Bowers, 21, were identified as the two people that were killed in the shooting. 

Six of the nine shooting victims were teenagers, according to police, including a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. 

All of those injured are in stable condition.

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said investigators are searching social media for posts that may have hinted about the shooting before it happened.

"We'll go through all the social media stuff that's come after and prior to see if there's anything I could have missed," Bethel told reporters.

Mayor Cherelle Parker rebuked the shooting, calling it a "heinous act of violence that was inhumane with no regard for human life."

She vowed to use all federal and local authorities to track down those responsible for the deadly gunfire.

"This was wartime ammunition that was just opened on Philadelphians and those who were here in our city," she continued.

Bethel continued, after chilling audio from the grisly scene was played, "That's the sound of war. So when you have an automatic weapon that you can empty a magazine, a 20-clip magazine in seconds, it is meant to kill, to create carnage and to hit as many people as possible. And in this case, you see, it was able to do that."

Investigators believe at least one of the guns used in the Memorial Day shooting was illegally modified with a "switch" that makes it fire more rapidly. Investigators at the scene Monday night were able to find 21 shell casings and after further searches early Tuesday morning, they found about a dozen more.

What we know:

Law enforcement sources say despite finding additional shell casings to the 21 previously collected, they still believe three guns were used in the shooting that killed 23-year-old Amya Devlin and 21-year-old Mikhail Bowers, and injured nine others, including six teenagers. 

They believe the investigation will rely heavily on ballistic and DNA evidence recovered from the scene, which will take some time, as well as reviewing social media and cooperation from witnesses.

Sources say they are exploring the possibility, based on groups of casing found at the scene, that there was shooting back and forth, rather than a sole ambush of gunfire.

Most of the victims have told investigators a similar story, according to sources, that it was crowded, dark outside, there were sudden gunshots and then an effort to try to get to safety.

During the Tuesday morning press conference, Commissioner Kevin Bethel said starting this weekend, there will be a deployment plan that puts officers in the park.

"The intelligence is coming through our portal, it’s not fast enough. Our portal is not fast enough. We need to evolve and so we're going to be putting a number of different law enforcement assets into the park to identify activity ahead with the hope that we can stave off these activities before they occur," he said.

What they're saying:

After an emotional response to the deadly Memorial Day shooting at Fairmount Park during Tuesday morning’s press conference, on Wednesday, Mayor Chelle Parker told FOX 29 the city will continue with what she calls a holistic approach to public safety.

"We’re going to continue doing what we’re doing because we do know it’s working, and that is our public safety strategy to focus on prevention, intervention, and enforcement," she said.

Mayor Parker continued by saying the comprehensive approach includes partnerships with Parks and Recreation, among others. 

She says it’s not just a police issue, but also points to the reduction in homicides so far this year.

"The data is not subjective, it does not lie, the numbers are the numbers, the city of Philadelphia is outpacing every other city, I’m talking about across the country, in the number of homicides, we need to make sure we continue moving in that direction," she said. "That’s going to mean some hard decisions from time to time."

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