A man was gunned down in front of his home while another man was shot ten times during two separate deadly shootings in Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon.
The first shooting occurred at 3:11 p.m. A witness told police it began as an argument between a 37-year-old man and a 49-year-old man near the older man’s home along the 4800 block of North Broad Street.
The 37-year-old man then pulled out a gun and fired at least six shots, police said.
The 49-year-old man was shot multiple times throughout his body. He was taken by police to the Albert Einstein Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 3:48 p.m.
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Police cameras captured the gunman running from the scene southbound on Broad Street. Police later identified the 37-year-old man as the suspect and apprehended him about a block away from the scene of the shooting.
The suspect is currently being interviewed by police. He has not yet been charged.
About an hour later, gunmen in a dark-colored vehicle opened fire at three men who were standing on the porch of a home on the 800 block of North 46th Street in West Philadelphia.
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A 33-year-old man was shot six times in the back, twice in the buttocks and twice in the knee, another 33-year-old man was shot once in the left knee and once in the buttocks while a 25-year-old man was shot three times in the right leg.
“Based on ballistic evidence, we know at least 40 shots were fired from three separate caliber semiautomatic weapons,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
All three victims were taken to the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
The 33-year-old man who was shot ten times was pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m. The other two victims are in stable condition. Police also said the 33-year-old man who survived lives at the home where the shooting took place.
Detectives found numerous surveillance cameras near the scene of the triple shooting. No arrests have been made and no weapons have been recovered.
As of Monday night, there were 420 reported homicides in Philadelphia, up 18 percent from the same time last year which ended up being one of the city’s deadliest on record.
Speaking with NBC10 last week, Mayor Jim Kenney said much of the blame for the violence comes down to the availability of guns and state laws preventing Philadelphia from enacting more stringent firearm restrictions.
“The bottom line with the gun violence are the guns, and I know in many ways we’re beyond that conversation because the Legislature will never do anything about gun control and probably the federal government won’t do it either,” Kenney said. “But there are certain things that we could do as a city that the Legislature keeps us from doing, and that involves straw purchasing, it involves the number of guns people can buy in a particular month.”
The city is currently engaged in a lawsuit that seeks to allow municipalities to enforce their own local gun control measures.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
