READING, Pa. – Reading’s mayor and chief of police commented at a City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night on three different shooting incidents which occurred over the weekend.
Chief of Police Richard Tornielli offered the details of the incidents:
- On May 6 at 6 p.m. in the area of Birch and Greenwich streets, a 16-year-old male was shot dead on the sidewalk.
- On May 7 at 8:30 p.m., the police responded to a reported shooting in the 1000 block of Patton Avenue. An 18-year-old male was deceased and a 21-year-old male — who was walking in the area — was struck by gunshots and transported to the hospital.
- In the early morning hours of May 8, a 27-year-old male victim sustained gunshots to the arm and leg at Sixth and Spruce streets.
“We have been able to determine that (May 8) incident, like the other two, involved a confrontation between individuals prior to the shooting,” Tornielli said. “At this time, we don’t believe any of these incidents are connected.”
Tornielli said the police are pursuing the investigations as quickly as possible to make sure there are not any further acts of violence.
These shootings follow a news conference on Friday where police said gun violence in the city is down compared to last year.
“One of our biggest concerns is getting the information that we have, comparing it with intelligence that we know, and getting ahead — trying to disrupt any further acts of violence related to these incidents,” he said.
“While we don’t believe these are connected at this time, there always is the potential for retaliatory incidents taking place,” Tornielli added.
Council asked how members of the community can help.
“It looks like all of these incidents this weekend occurred following some type of dispute,” Tornielli said. “I encourage folks to call in to the police when those incidents are happening.”
“If you see a dispute on the street, or you see folks arguing or about to fight on the street, call them in before it turns to this level of violence,” he said. “And again, those reports to our communication center can be anonymous. And we can collect that information anonymously, and send our officers out there to deal with it.”
Tornielli also warned community members to not rely on information posted on social media.
“The information that’s coming out on social media isn’t vetted, and it’s extremely unfortunate in some instances,” Tornielli added. “It doesn’t serve any interest to public safety; it’s self-serving to those individuals, and it’s unfortunate.”
Mayor Eddie Moran said the city cannot rely on the police for everything.
“I don’t care if I turn blue saying what I’m about to say, but I’m going to continue to say that our kiddos, kiddos are dying, and we cannot allow that,” Moran said.
“We have to play our part,” he continued. “We need to get our community involved. I keep saying it, and lately — unfortunately — I’ve been saying it more than ever that it takes a village to raise a child. I need this village to come together.”
“I’m hurting seeing those kiddos losing their lives,” Moran added. “I will continue to advocate accordingly, not only with our city, but of any resources in the county and state.”
“I’m going to continue to reach out for grant opportunities that are available,” he said. “We cannot depend on law enforcement alone.”
