Three dead after violent night in Allentown
‘We are hurting’ from gun violence, mayor says
Three people were dead in two separate shooting incidents Thursday and Friday in Allentown that left city officials and activists decrying rising gun violence.
Early Friday morning, an east Allentown man confronting people who were trying to open doors on parked vehicles ended up in a shootout that left him and another man dead, police said.
The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. on the 100 block of South Street. Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio said the victims were a 21-year-old man and a 42-year-old man whose names are being withheld while their families are notified.
The shootings happened hours after another deadly shooting in the city. At 7:40 p.m. Thursday, officers found a man with gunshot wounds on the 500 block of North Fourth Street. Darnelle Thompson, 39, of Allentown, was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where he was pronounced dead.
Buglio ruled all three deaths homicides.
South Street, the scene of the early morning shooting, was quiet hours later. Only two residents, a man and a woman, answered their doors. Both said they had slept through the incident. The woman said the resident who was killed “was family to me” but declined to comment further.
The homicides brought the total for 2023 to six. Five have involved guns. In a statement posted on social media, Mayor Matt Tuerk called illegal guns “a toxin in Allentown.”
“I’m asking our legislators to join me in getting guns off the street in our city,” said Tuerk, who on Thursday joined an anti-gun rally in Harrisburg.
“When we have safe streets, we give Pennsylvanians a chance to thrive,” he said. “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.”
Tuerk urged those who were struggling with the violence to seek support from mental health resources and first responders.
“I’m sad to see the loss of life in our city over the past day,” he said. “My heart goes out to the mothers and 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.”
Jeani Garcia, zero youth violence coordinator with Promise Neighborhoods, said the deaths further highlight the need for collective action to prevent gun violence.
Garcia was among around a dozen anti-gun violence advocates who, like Tuerk, attended the Harrisburg rally.
“You’re not supposed to die over protecting your property, and you’re not supposed to die over breaking into a car,” Garcia said. “We need to get away from this, ‘automatically, pull out your weapon.’ No.”
She called on concerned Allentonians to get involved in local anti-gun violence efforts in the city.
“We have an open door to anybody who wants to help we encourage it,” she said.
Anyone with information about either incident should contact Allentown Police Criminal Investigations Division at 610-437-7221 or make an anonymous tip via the Allentown Police Tip411 app.