‘Brutal Killing' on Philly Street Follows Robbery, Beating Inside Corner Store

A man died after being shot several times in what Philadelphia police called a "brutal killing" on an East Germantown neighborhood street Sunday night.

And, investigators said the deadly shooting could be connected to a beating and armed robbery at a corner store earlier in the day. Surveillance video shows the dead man taking part in that assault, police said.

Police found Omar Freeman shot multiple times on the 5900 block of North Norwood Street shortly before 6 p.m. The 26-year-old from nearby North Woodstock Street died a short time later at the hospital.

Investigators said it appeared to be a targeted attack. Freeman had been shot at least eight times with the gunman or gunmen firing multiple times while standing over top of the man. At least one shooter had gotten out of a silver car before opening fire.

"The shooter or shooters shot at him literally from inches from his body and continued to shoot while he was down," Philadelphia police Inspector D F Pace said. "It was a brutal killing."

Freeman was one of two men investigators believed "severely" assaulted and robbed a person inside a convenience store on nearby Church Lane a short time before the shooting.

Retaliation could have led to the killing, according to investigators.

"We are exploring the connection between the motivation for this homicide and the strong-armed robbery that he had committed shortly there before," Pace said.

The pummeling taken by the man during the robbery left him hospitalized with injuries, police said.

The homicide was one of at least eight killings in Philadelphia over the weekend.

Entering Monday, at least 95 homicides were reported so far this year in Philadelphia. That's is up about 10% from the same time last year, which wound up being the deadliest year on record in the city.

There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.