ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A 16-year-old is hurt after a shooting in Allentown.
It comes amid a recent rash of violent crime involving teenagers. This, despite the city seeing a large drop in violent crime overall.
Allentown police say they responded to East Union and South Carlisle streets around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night for a report of a shooting.
Police say they found the teen there, and that he was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
“We’re just heartbroken because we know that events like these are preventable,” said Maggie Hartmann, Lehigh Valley organizer of CeaseFirePA.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Allentown saw a 69% decrease in homicides from 2021 to 2025, and the city is on track for a historically low number this year.
But recent incidents have involved youth, including a couple deadly shootings since May.
“At Ceasefire PA, we firmly believe that the entire community has to come together to combat community violence,” Hartmann said.
The CeaseFirePA organization says it focuses on policy solutions and making sure there’s funding at the state level to mitigate violence through programs.
Last month, the organization hosted a gun violence forum in Allentown.
“In that conversation, the Mayor shared data that shows that violence in Allentown is actually decreasing, however a lot of people in the community are echoing concerns about young people resorting to firearm ownership because they’re scared and I think we’re seeing an uptick in youth violence in certain areas because of that,” said Hartmann.
She tells us there are several organizations, like United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, the Boys and Girls Club, and Promise Neighborhoods.
Hartmann says Allentown also allocated money for a violence prevention coordinator.
It’s not clear if anyone was arrested.
Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Allentown Police Criminal Investigation division at 610-437-7721 or make an anonymous tip through the Allentown Police Tip411 app.