5 slain over weekend in Philly

Investigators are seeking leads in a series of  shootings over the weekend that left five people dead across Philadelphia.

Between Saturday and early Monday, five people were slain in four shootings across the city. No arrests had been made in any of the cases as of Monday morning.

The most recent slaying happened shortly after 1 a.m. Monday, when a man was shot during an apparent home invasion on the 6500 block of North 16th Street in West Oak Lane. The victim, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:21 a.m.

Officers found a rear door kicked in at the residence, police said. The motive was believed to have been robbery. Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters at the scene that police found numerous shell casings close to the victim's body.

That shooting followed the discovery Sunday afternoon of a man and a woman who were found slain in a vehicle on the 1000 block of Sydney Street in East Mount Airy's Stenton neighborhood. Those two victims, whose names have not been released, were pronounced dead at the scene at 5 p.m.

Homicide Capt. James Clark said the victims, each shot once in the back of the head, were believed to have known their assailant in the execution-style slaying, but the motive was not known.

Earlier in the weekend, a violent overnight Saturday into Sunday left two men dead and three others wounded in shootings.

Both of the fatal shootings happened in West Philadelphia. Police on Monday identified the slain men as Jalil Griffin, 24, who was shot to death at 56th and Market Streets shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday, and Wesley Finney, 27, who was killed on the 1400 block of North Vogdes Street shortly after 7:45 p.m. Saturday.

The motives for both killings remained unknown Monday, police said.

Homicides in Philadelphia thus far in 2017 are up about 20 percent compared with last year, according to police statistics.

Through Sunday night, 131 people had been killed in the city so far this year (the Monday slaying is not included in that count). At this point in 2016, Philadelphia had recorded 109 homicides. The 131 homicide victims as of June 4 is the highest year-to-date total for that period since 2012.