East Germantown

Man Stabs Brother, Grandma Found Dead in Home During Philly Barricade

The grandmother had no visible signs of trauma, police said

Police Lights and Sirens
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Police found a grandmother dead and two men suffering from stab wounds when a report of a man with a knife turned into a barricade situation in Philadelphia Saturday night.

Officers arrived at the 1000 block of E. Chelten Avenue in the East Germantown neighborhood around 7:39 p.m. and found a 20-year-old man who had been stabbed in his side standing outside, Officer Tanya Little, a Philadelphia Police Department spokeswoman, said. The man told police his 25-year-old brother was the one responsible.

Officers then found another 20-year-old man with multiple stab wounds to the chest. Officers rushed him and the other man to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where the man stabbed in the chest was listed in extremely critical condition and the man stabbed in the side was listed in stable condition.

The man stabbed in the side told police his brother was inside the home, which is when officers went inside and found the 25-year-old holding a knife and standing on the stairwell leading from the second floor to the third floor, Little said. After unsuccessfully trying to subdue the man, officers declared a barricade situation.

As police tried to negotiate with the man, they saw him pouring a liquid – possibly kerosene – on the third floor of the residence, Little said. Officers were eventually able to get him to surrender, but he cut his own neck during the arrest and was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center in stable condition.

Little said that officers had noticed the man’s grandma unresponsive on the living room couch when they first arrived, and she was declared dead by medics at the scene at 7:57 p.m. She had no visible signs of trauma, and her cause of death was not immediately clear, Little said.

The police spokeswoman said the investigation is “active and ongoing.”

Anyone at risk of suicide can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

Contact Us