A series of violent incidents shook Allentown, Pennsylvania, on December 29-30, 2023, leaving a one-year-old boy and a 44-year-old woman dead and six others injured.
The first incident, a deadly shooting, occurred on December 29, 2023, at around 8:42 p.m. inside a home on the 100 block of Chestnut Street. A young boy, identified as Sebastian Serrano, and his grandmother, Ada Ortiz, were fatally injured. A 66-year-old male also sustained life-threatening injuries in the incident but is expected to survive.
The Lehigh County Coroner, Daniel A. Buglio, has ruled both deaths as homicides, resulting from multiple gunshot wounds. The Allentown Police Department, alongside the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force and the District Attorney’s Office, is actively investigating this case.
On the same night, two more shootings were reported in different locations. Less than 15 minutes after the first shooting, on the 300 block of Ridge Avenue, a separate incident involved a man and a woman who were shot and injured. A 23-year-old male, Demitrius Bashir Campbell, was apprehended at the scene by the police. Both victims were rushed to the hospital and are expected to survive.
In a third unrelated incident early Saturday morning, December 30, the parking lot of an Irish bar on the 1600 block of Hanover Avenue became a crime scene. A man sustained serious gunshot wounds, and two other individuals later arrived at hospitals with injuries from this event. All are expected to survive.
The Allentown Police have stated that the shootings on Chestnut Street do not appear to be connected to the other incidents on Ridge Avenue and Hanover Avenue. The police have launched a full-scale investigation to uncover the motives behind these shootings and to determine if there are any links between the separate incidents.
This string of violence has caused deep concern in the Allentown community. Local residents have expressed both anger and sorrow over these events, with many calling for immediate action to address the issue of gun violence in the area. State representatives and local authorities have offered condolences to the victims’ families and have assured that justice will be pursued for the perpetrators.
As the community mourns, the focus turns to healing and seeking answers to the many questions that remain unanswered about the night’s events. The Allentown Police Department urges anyone with information about these shootings to come forward and assist in their investigations.