A 16-year-old was in "extremely critical" condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with chest and head wounds.

The other two boys, 17 and 19, were treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released.

Police said it did not appear that the youths were the gunman's target. He fled into the crowd and disappeared.

The victims were among the crowd that left the Benjamin Franklin Parkway after the fireworks display and crossed into West Philadelphia over the Spring Garden Street Bridge.

They had reached Haverford Avenue near 34th Street when shots rang out about 11:40 p.m.

Other members of the crowd ran screaming as the boys fell to the pavement.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the Southwest Detectives tip line at 215-686-8477.

Police said another group of Fourth of July revelers caused a disturbance on Broad Street near City Hall after the fireworks display. There were no arrests and no injuries reported.

- Staff report

Child dead; stepdad charged

The stepfather of a 20-month-old boy has been charged with that child's death Friday at their home on 18th Street near Butler in Tioga, police said.

Malik Powell, 21, was charged with murder and endangering the welfare of a child after cops found the child, Rashaan Anderson, unresponsive about 3 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital, and the cause of death was blunt-impact trauma, according to police.

Restaurant shooting injures 2

A shooting at a Chinese restaurant on Walnut Street near 56th, West Philadelphia, last night left one man, 18, in critical condition and another, 21, wounded about 10 p.m. The 18-year-old was shot at least once in the head and the 21-year-old in the left leg by someone in a group of men at the restaurant.

The more seriously wounded youth was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The the 21-year-old walked into Mercy Hospital on his own, police said.

Off-duty patrolman stabbed

An off-duty Highway Patrol officer was stabbed shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday outside Scooters' bar at 38th Street and Powelton Avenue, in West Philadelphia, after attempting to intercede in an altercation between two women and another off-duty officer. Lt. Jonathan Josey was in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Merkea Golphin, 36, was charged with attempted murder.

2 drownings at the Shore

One man drowned in Atlantic City and another in Ocean City over the weekend. Early yesterday, Melvin Brown Jr., of Philadelphia, entered the ocean in front of the Hilton Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, about 1:30 a.m. and disappeared.

His body was pulled from the surf shortly after 4 a.m. about five blocks from where he entered the water.

Earlier, Anton Zhmachynski, 22, a citizen of Belarus who was living in Ocean City, drowned when he and a friend went for an evening swim off the 7th Street beach. Police found him at about 10 p.m. .

Camden man shot to death

Raul Chavez, 26, of Camden, was shot multiple times and killed about 3:45 a.m. yesterday behind a 7-Eleven on Gibbsboro Road, in Lindenwold. The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $1,000 reward. Call the tip line at 215-345-8477.

SEPTA train kills man

A 49-year-old man was killed Saturday evening when he was struck by a SEPTA train while walking on the tracks between the Melrose Park and Fern Rock stations. Police said Daniel Gallagher, of Shelbourne Street near Devereaux Avenue, was listening to his iPod with headphones and apparently didn't hear the train. Police said the engineer sounded the horn and braked. Gallagher was pronounced dead at the scene.

- Staff and wire reports

A 16-year-old boy who was shot Sunday night in West Philadelphia following the Fourth of July fireworks display at the Art Museum died Monday night, police said.

Kyle Featherspoon, of Olive Street near 38th, died at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 10:02 p.m., police said. He had chest and head wounds. Police said it is unclear whether he was the intended target.

The gunman fired shots into the crowd as it reached Haverford Avenue near 34th Street and injured two other youths, ages 17 and 19. They were treated at the hospital and released.

Tipsters are urged to call the Southwest Detectives tip line at 215-686-8477.

Pics released in cop stabbing

Police yesterday released the mug shots of two women charged in the stabbing of off-duty Highway Patrol Lt. Jonathan Josey about 2 a.m. Sunday outside a bar at 38th Street and Powelton Avenue in West Philadelphia.

Markea Golphin, 36, of Mars Place near 80th Street, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and related offenses, and Ayisha Palmer, 37, of 41st Street near Lancaster Avenue, has been charged with aggravated assault, hindering apprehension and related offenses.

Police said Josey tried to intercede in a fight between the women and another off-duty officer when he was stabbed in the back by Golphin. Palmer tried to throw the knife down a sewer after the attack, police said. Josey was in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Man shot in Cobbs Creek

An 18-year-old man was in critical condition yesterday after being shot multiple times on Catharine Street near 58th in Cobbs Creek shortly after 2 p.m., police said.

The unidentified man was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for gunshot wounds to his buttocks, back and arms.

- Staff and wire reports

In photos posted on family and friends' Facebook pages, Gina Schickling looked like a fun-loving young woman with a bright future.

But yesterday, instead of pictures of the 22-year-old college student smiling with her fingers forming peace signs, enjoying winter ice skating with friends at Penn's Landing or walking on the beach, Schickling's loved ones posted pictures of sunflowers, her favorite flower, after news spread that she was found dead.

Schickling's live-in boyfriend, ex-con Stephen Benford, 23, was charged last night with her murder, Philadelphia police said.

After receiving a call from Philadelphia police Monday night, police in Warren County, New Jersey, found Schickling's body behind an abandoned home once owned by Benford's parents in Independence Township.

Police said Benford stabbed Schickling multiple times after the two, who had been dating since the end of April, according to Schickling's Facebook page, argued at the couple's apartment on Kensington Avenue near Boudinot Street in Kensington.

A police source told Fox 29 that Benford confessed that after stabbing Schickling - whom he met on a dating Web site - he went to a local Home Depot, bought a garbage can, disposed of Schickling's body and then drove it to his parents' old house.

Benford pleaded guilty in 2006 to an aggravated assault charge and was sentenced to two to five years in prison. He was also ordered to participate in drug and alcohol counseling.

Schickling, who was attending college in San Diego, had been reported missing June 30 after last being seen at the Fire, a bar on Girard Avenue near 4th Street.

Schickling's friends and family formed a group on the social networking site called "Missing: Please help us find Gina."

They also posted missing-person fliers in the area around the bar in Northern Liberties and near the couple's apartment in Kensington.

Her father, Tom Schickling, posted on his Facebook page shortly before 6 p.m. Monday:

"Friends and family - Gina is dead. This is an unspeakable tragedy for our family. We deeply appreciate all of the prayers and all of the help with our efforts to find her. Please allow us time to grieve."

"Gina did not deserve this," a friend posted on the page dedicated to finding her.

"You will be greatly missed by myself and many others . . . my deepest condolences go out to her loving family."

Neighbors near the green and yellow apartment building where Schickling and Benford lived, which is flanked by a vacant building and a church on a block overrun with drug dealers and users, said they didn't like the looks of Benford.

"He looked like he was disturbed," said Trisha, 56. "I didn't like his looks."

Among Benford's "interests" listed on his Facebook page are "Girls With No Self Respect," "Smelling Bad," "Being Trashy," and "Fist Fights."

"She seemed like a very nice person," said Ryan Gibson, 28, who said he lived near the two in Kensington. "She hung around up the street [near the Somerset Street El station]. Every time I seen her she was trying to help someone."

A police officer rushed a gunshot victim to the hospital in his police cruiser last evening, but it was too late.

The victim, Kenneth Robert Carrington, 29, was pronounced dead at Hahnemann University Hospital at 7:01 p.m. Police said Carrington was shot twice, in the right arm and left side of the chest, at 10th and Brown streets, in North Philadelphia. Police said the shooter fled the scene in a silver Chevy Lumina with a Pennsylvania tag.

Police said they knew of no motive for the shooting.

A 54-year-old man was shot and killed in Port Richmond yesterday afternoon, police said.

The unidentified man was shot at 4:15 p.m. on Tioga Street near Tulip. He was pronounced dead by medics on the highway at 4:19 p.m., police said. Police had no suspects and knew of no motive for the shooting.  

Partyers argue; 1 shot in face

A Camden man is in jail and another is in the hospital after a few days of "partying" at a Cherry Hill hotel ended with a gunshot wound to the face Thursday night, police said.

Cherry Hill police say Albert Cass, 18, allegedly shot Chrishon Carver, also 18, about 11:30 p.m. after they argued at the Holiday Inn on Route 70. The two were part of a group that rented a room.

Cass was arrested in front of the hotel and charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons possession. He was being held on $300,000 bail at the Camden County Jail. Carver remained in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital.