What to Know
- Daejour Smith was gunned down in the parking lot of the Lowe's home improvement store where he worked in South Philadelphia Monday.
- Smith was shot at least nine times during some sort of argument, investigators said.
- Gun violence has ravaged Philadelphia this year with homicides already exceeding the total for all of 2019.
A young man was shot nine times and killed in the parking lot of a popular South Philadelphia shopping center in the middle of the day Monday.
The deadly shooting took place just after 1 p.m. outside of the Lowe’s store on South Columbus Boulevard when the shooter pulled up a 21-year-old store employee, Philadelphia police said.
The worker was shot at least nine times throughout his body and died a short time later at the hospital.
Police could be seen taping off part of the shopping center parking lot as they searched for the shooter.
On Tuesday, police identified the shooting victim as Daejour Smith. Lowe's confirmed he worked at the store. Some store employees appeared distraught by the deadly shooting.
"We are heartbroken at the tragic and senseless shooting that took place outside our store today," a Lowe's spokesperson wrote. "Our focus is on providing support to our associate's family and colleagues at the local store. We respectfully refer all questions to local law enforcement."
Police said the deadly shooting happened during an argument.
This homicide would bring Philadelphia to the same total (356) of homicides it had all of last year. Deadly violence has hit Philadelphia hard this year with at least 355 homicides entering Monday -- a 38% increase from this time last year, according to Philadelphia police stats.
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On Tuesday, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw is expected to address the surge in gun violence during a morning news conference.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
