Hit at least once, Brinkley slammed his car into reverse and raced backward along Spring Avenue, trying to escape. He backed through a wooden fence, rolled over two bushes, and rear-ended a Volvo SUV parked in a driveway. He then shifted into forward and sped off.
Police found him some blocks away, badly wounded, and took him to Albert Einstein Medical Center in North Philadelphia, where he initially was put in the intensive-care unit.
The gunman - police said they didn't know a motive for the shooting - melted away. He apparently got into a car parked nearby and drove off. Detectives said they had no immediate suspects.
Upgraded from stable to good condition yesterday afternoon, Brinkley was quoted by one of his old coaches as worrying aloud that he would miss his big chance to make the Chargers' roster when the team goes to training camp this month. "He's going to be OK - that was the first thing," said Brian Fluck, athletic director and football coach at West Catholic. "What is this going to do to his football career? That's the next question."
Fluck, who had been in contact with Brinkley and the grandmother who helped raise him, said that Brinkley had been shot in the shoulder and that "fragments" had lodged in his back.
The hospital declined to comment on the wounds.
In his schoolboy career, first at Roxborough High and then at West Catholic, Brinkley became the city's all-time rusher and was honored as a statewide "offensive player of the year."
He went on to Syracuse University, where he had some rough years. His father died of illness while he was a freshman, and he suffered knee injuries. But in his senior season, Brinkley gained 1,164 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry, and scored seven touchdowns. He was named to the All-Big East second team.
