A young man was shot and killed on the sidewalk outside of a Northeast Philadelphia corner smoke shop early Wednesday.
Philadelphia police officers rushed to the intersection of Torresdale and Cheltenham avenues in the Wissinoming neighborhood just before 2 a.m. to find the 19-year-old on the sidewalk bleeding heavily from gunshot wounds to his head and chest, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
The teen died a short time later at the hospital, police said.
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Police found evidence that at least nine shots were fired at a close range.
"It appears that the shooter or shooters walked right up onto this 19-year-old and fired at least nine shots," Small said.
The victim is known to frequent the nearby corner store, but wasn't in the store prior to the shooting, Small said.
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Investigators hoped that surveillance video from nearby properties would help them track down the killer or killers.
Philadelphia has struggled to slow deadly shootings in recent years.
The city has already seen at least 1,639 shootings in 2022, according to data gathered by the city controller's office. To date in 2022, at least 373 homicides have been reported in Philadelphia. That's up 3% from the same time last year, which wound up being the deadliest year on record in Philadelphia.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
