An apparent love triangle turned deadly early Tuesday as a man was shot to death inside a Southwest Philadelphia home by a man police believe used to date the dead man's girlfriend.
The ex-boyfriend had walked into a home on the 2000 block of South Alden Street in the Kingsessing neighborhood around 1:30 a.m. and barged up to a second-floor bedroom, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told NBC10.
Once upstairs, the man began arguing with a 26-year-old man before shooting that man multiple times in the chest, witnesses told police.
The gunshot victim, identified as Arnold Kirksey of Folcroft, Pennsylvania, was unresponsive and bleeding heavily when officers arrived a short time later, police said. Kirksey died a short time later at the hospital.
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Investigators learned that an ex-boyfriend was the one who allegedly shot the new boyfriend of a woman who lives in the Alden Street home, police said.
Police then surrounded a home near 25th and Mifflin streets in South Philadelphia as they tried to capture the suspected shooter. Police cleared the scene a little before daybreak without finding the suspect, who police have yet to name.
On Wednesday, police said they had made an arrest and recovered a gun.
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This was the latest deadly shooting in Philadelphia as the city struggles to curb gun violence.
To date, at least 286 homicides had been reported in Philadelphia, up 34% from the same time last year, which ended up being one of the most deadly in the city’s history.
In May, Philadelphia joined 14 other cities as part of a nationwide effort to reduce violent crime. Mayor Jim Kenney is also set to sign a fiscal 2022 budget that would allocate more than $155 million to anti-violence programs.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
If you or someone you know is facing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence hotline for help at (800) 799-SAFE (7233) or go to www.thehotline.org for more. States often have domestic violence hotlines, as well.
