Man Found Shot to Death in Chair Inside Philadelphia Home

A man was shot in the face and killed inside a home believed to be abandoned in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood overnight.

Officers responded to the home along G Street near Allegheny Avenue just after 2 a.m. Tuesday to find a man sitting in a chair in the dining room bleeding from a gunshot wound to his face. Medics pronounced the man dead at the scene, Philadelphia police said.

The home was in disarray and "appeared to be vacant," despite heat and electricity running into the property, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. The home could be a "flophouse" and there was drug paraphernalia inside the house, Small said.

At least 14 shots were fired at a close range inside the home, Small said.

Police didn't identify the man, but said they believe he could be a young man who was known to frequent the house.

No motive was given for the killing. Investigators hoped that surveillance video in the area could help them track down the killer.

This was the latest homicide as Philadelphia deals with an uptick in killings. As of Tuesday morning, there were already at least 30 homicides in Philadelphia in 2022, up 36% from the same date last year. 

A total of 562 people were killed in the city in 2021, according to Philadelphia Police Department statistics. Those killings were the most since the city began keeping track in 1960, and they eclipsed the previous record of 500 slayings in 1990.

The city appropriated $155 million to public safety in its last budget, including $16 million for neighborhood-based groups fighting violence.

However, Mayor Jim Kenney twice declined to issue an emergency declaration on gun violence, something pushed by both activists and fellow lawmakers as a way to clear red tape and expedite resources to combat the problem.

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