Police say a West Philadelphia teenager is dead after two people knocked on the door of his home, asked for him, then shot him in the chest right in front of his father.
"I was standing there to protect my son like I always do and the guy turned around with the gun... so fast," said Joe Seay. "And he shot my baby -- I couldn't protect him."
Eighteen-year-old Jarell Seay was pronounced dead at a hospital Sunday evening after being shot twice in the chest a little before 6 p.m. on the 1300 block of N. 55th Street, according to police.
Investigators say two men approached the home in West Philadelphia and knocked. Jarell's father answered and the men asked for the teen, who stepped outside and was shot in the chest after exchanging words with his assailants.
"Something felt funny about these guys so I stepped out on the porch with them -- asking them, 'Who are you? What do you want with him?'" Joe said.
Before Joe knew it his son was laying in a pool of blood.
"God took him," Joe said.
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All Joe could say about the alleged assailants was that he thought one had a flame tattoo on one of his arms.
Jarell attended the private Wyncote Academy in Montgomery County, where he was on the basketball team. He was just weeks away from graduation.
"Total shock -- it's senseless," Principal Kirk Hittinger said. "Knowing Jarell I just don't see where something like that could happen to him."
The shooting is under investigation.
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