Wilsey
A 14-year-old boy was shot to death on a Lower Mayfair street on Monday night when two unidentified gunmen jumped out of a car and opened fire at the victim and his friend, police say.
Investigators are on the hunt for the shooters, whose descriptions are largely unknown. Police have said only that both assailants were men, one wearing a dark hoodie and the other wearing a small beanie-type hat.
The victim was identified as Ian Wilsey of the 1700 block of Cottman Ave., about a block from Northeast High School. Wilsey was a ninth-grader at Northeast High, according to news reports.
The shooting occurred at about 9 p.m. on the 6200 block of Brous Ave. near Devereaux Avenue. Police went to the scene in response to a report of a person with a gun, where they found Wilsey lying in the street and suffering from three gunshot wounds of the chest and torso. Officers from the 15th district rushed the victim to Aria-Jefferson Health’s Torresdale campus, where he died shortly after 9:30 p.m.
Officially, the motive is unknown, but police suspect that robbery may have been the intent of the assailants, although the victims were not robbed.
According to news reports citing police sources, Wilsey was walking to a nearby store with a 16-year-old friend who was uninjured. The friend told homicide detectives that two men approached them and revealed a gun. Police Commissioner Richard Ross said that “one of them just opened fire” on the boy.
Neighbors heard the shots and went outside to find the boy in the street. Meanwhile, the gunmen fled in an unknown direction. One arriving officer placed the boy in the back of a patrol car and drove him to the hospital.
Later Monday night, police turned to social media in a public appeal for surveillance video from the area near the shooting scene. That part of the investigation continued Tuesday. Call 215–686-TIPS or text to PPD TIP to report information about the case.
Friends of the victim’s family have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Wilsey’s funeral expenses. The campaign raised more than $1,500 in its first four hours on Tuesday. To access the donation page, visit gofundme.com/ian-wisley-funeral-exoenses?ssid=822786166&pos=1 ull;•
