Islam Ibn Shabazz, a 17-year-old Black / African American male from Chester, Pennsylvania, was killed in the early morning hours of December 4, 1998, after gunfire broke out in the city’s West End. Online newspaper reporting identified him as Islam I. Shabazz, of the 900 block of Glenn Terrace. He was taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The shooting was not described as an isolated discovery of a single victim.
Police were called to the area of Ninth and Grace streets around 12:05 a.m., where they found two young people wounded in separate but nearby locations. One was found lying on Ninth Street, while the other was found along Grace, in an alley. Authorities said both had been shot multiple times, and a police sergeant described the two as friends. Islam’s death left one family grieving and another household waiting for word, as the second victim underwent surgery at the same hospital.
The public details available from online sources indicate that police believed there was a suspect shortly after the shooting, but no name was released in the initial reporting and no charges had been filed at that time. The wounded teen’s name was also withheld. The case, as described in the available reporting, carried the confusion and urgency of a double shooting: officers arriving before dawn, two injured friends found in the street and alley, and investigators left to determine who opened fire and why.
No reliable online source located for this synopsis identified a later arrest, named suspect, criminal charges, trial, conviction, or sentence connected specifically to Islam Ibn Shabazz’s death. Based on the available online information, the clearest confirmed suspect-related detail is that police acknowledged having a suspect soon after the shooting, but the public record available online does not show that the person was charged.
