UPDATE: A suspect in the shooting was arrested in Florida. DETAILS HERE
Philadelphia police searched for clues after a killing inside a busy corner store Tuesday morning.
Police said a gunman opened fire on a 22-year-old man inside J&R Perez Grocery at 38th and Aspen streets in the city’s Mantua neighborhood at 8:25 a.m.
Multiple bullets struck the customer, who was sitting inside the store when a gunman walked in and opened fire, said police.
Officers scooped up the victim and rushed him to Presbyterian Hospital, where he died a short time later.
Tiffany Phelps identified the victim as her son Maurice McDonald. She said he was likely at the store grabbing a bite.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
"I love my son," she said. "You know, I know he's in God's hands and it is what it is. I'm just tired of these kids dying for nothing."
Store owner Jose Uran said he was upstairs at the time of the shooting and heard four shots ring out in the store despite there being children inside. He said it didn't appear the shooting had anything to do with his store.
No one else in the store was shot.
McDonald had a history of run-ins with the laws, according to court records. His mother acknowledged her son was no angel but said that he was "turning his life around" and recently enrolled in technical school.
Investigators hoped surveillance video will lead to the killer. They said that robbery didn't appear to be the motive.
