Philadelphia’s violent year continued Thursday when a man was shot four times in the head in the city’s Kensington neighborhood.
The victim, who was in his 20’s, was on the 700 block of East Madison Street around 1:50 p.m. when an unidentified gunman opened fire.
The victim suffered four gunshot wounds to the head and was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m.
No arrests have been made and police have not released a description of any suspects.
The shooting marks the 111th reported homicide in Philadelphia so far this year, keeping the city on pace to have the highest number of murders since 2007. That year finished with 391. Since 2016, homicides in Philadelphia have risen each year.
The deadly violence has continued unabated despite citizens being on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is a struggle from before the COVID time," Mayor Jim Kenney said Monday, noting that the gun culture in the city and poverty is contributing to the continuing violence.
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Kenney's managing director, Brian Abernathy, said the police department is deploying even more officers on street duty.
"Violence is not new in the city," Abernathy said. "Unfortunately, while our overarching crime rates are down, we recognize our violent crime rate is up."
Crimes in most violent and property-related categories are up in 2020, though recent weekly totals have been down, according to statistics tallied by the police department.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence. Further information can be found here.
