A young man, who police believe may have been going to or leaving from work at a Burger King, was shot and killed as he tried to run from the gunman firing at him Thursday morning in Northwest Philadelphia.
The man, who was in his late teens or early 20s, was walking near the intersection of 19th Street and 71st Avenue in the West Oak Lane neighborhood when someone began shooting, possibly from a car, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
The man lost his shoes as he ran away, but he was still caught by the bullets. When police and medics arrived, they found him lying on the sidewalk as he bled heavily from the head and face, Small said. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
He was wearing a Burger King uniform at the time, which investigators believe could indicate he was just headed to or from work at the chain restaurant when he was shot, Small said.
Police found eight spent shell casings from a semiautomatic gun. They also found a car parked in the rear driveway of a home on the 7100 block of 19th Street, a few feet from the victim’s body. Police believe the gunman fired from that car, which had been recently reported stolen in a home invasion in the northeast part of the city, before ditching the vehicle, Small said.
The victim was not immediately identified. Investigators were parsing over surveillance video from several nearby homes as they looked for the shooter, the chief inspector said.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
