To the Temple community,    

Incidents like the one we saw this weekend that lead to violence are unacceptable to us and our Temple University community. We continue to work this case, are investigating multiple angles, and hope to identify the organizer of the meet-up. We also have new information to share, as well as updated photos that provide a clearer look at the suspect who fired shots into the air. The suspect is described as a B/M, 16- 18yrs old wearing a green camo hooded sweatshirt, possibly from the brand Bape, with yellow and white logos or designs on the hood, a white tee shirt, tan sweatpants with a logo on the left front pocket and black and white sneakers. Police have also been working nonstop to capture video evidence, follow up on tips and pursue other investigative leads to bring this incident to a resolution. Temple Police Officers and Detectives and Philadelphia Police are working with Philadelphia School District safety officers, Juvenile Probation and SEPTA to identify the suspect as well as the organizer of the event.  

Since last semester, Temple Police have stationed a marked patrol vehicle at the corner of Broad and Cecil B. Moore during busy high volume pedestrian times. Additionally, a security officer is stationed at the corner 24/7. We will continue to evaluate measures to deter criminal activity. 

Temple University Department of Public Safety (TUDPS) evaluates the information and intelligence that we have internally and from our city partners to determine resources and operational planning. In this situation, there was no intelligence or information to lead us to believe the meet up would turn violent. We coordinated with the Philadelphia Police Department prior to the meet-up and we placed police officers in and around the area and were monitoring the situation and the campus from our communications center. As soon as the situation changed from orderly to disorderly, we disseminated a TUAlert and activated additional resources to disperse the group. We continued to send out TUAlerts to keep the community appraised of the quickly evolving situation. 

We will continue to update this case through our social media channels.  

More information regarding the university’s available safety resources can be found here. 

Best regards,     

Jennifer D. Griffin  
Vice President & Chief for Public Safety